Are public protests still ok in the era of COVID19 ? on November 10, 2020COVID19 cases are rising in Pakistan steadily for last few weeks. Public was told that Pakistan has successfully defeated the SARS-COV-2 (the virus which causes COVID19). We were further told that World is amazed on our success in controlling the pandemic. Government distributed awards and everyone patted on their backs. For pretty much everyone in […]
Does Pakistan COVID19 control strategy is based on a reality? on July 16, 2020As an epidemiologist who has to oversee hundreds of student’s work which is based on numbers, the first thing we learn is how to pick anomalies of data. I have been asked this question many times by my own students. If someone uses fake numbers in a study how you or a scientific journal could […]
COVID19: Before and after NCOC on July 6, 2020First case of COVID19, outside China was announced on 15th January 2020. For an epidemiologist who focuses on outbreaks and pandemics this was the first red flag. That was also the same day I reached out to Dr. Zafar Mirza to request him to assemble a national group of experts in Pakistan to monitor progress […]
COVID-19: How can we still protect ourselves? on June 25, 2020COVID-19 is believed to be widely-spread in Pakistan. All of us now know multiple people from our own families and friends, who were infected with SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Sometimes, it appears that governments have stopped trying to prevent people from getting infected. They may be quietly hoping for herd immunity. But that […]
What is wrong with Pakistan coronavirus control strategy? on May 16, 2020For living I work on outbreaks detection and control systems, including pandemic preparedness. Over the years I have taught young public health officers across the globe how to detect outbreaks quickly and contain them locally. Part of our standardized training curriculum is what not to do if there is a major outbreak or a pandemic. […]
Coronavirus and new fortune tellers on May 7, 2020Nearly three decades ago, I left my country for the first time to start postgraduate studies in the University of Bristol. I was allowed just 20 kg luggage and I had to make sure that I pack most important things which will help me survive in a new land. Among those priority items, I had […]
Wuhan outbreak! cost of unpreparedness on February 11, 2020In December a scientific journal published my paper on global preparedness for a major pandemic. We looked at the information available and other halfhearted efforts which were being done to be ready for next pandemic. Like many other experts in the field we also came to the same conclusion that world is not ready for […]
Is Wuhan starting a global pandemic? on February 5, 2020The world was already concerned about any potential pandemic devastating global population and economies. It was just a century ago that the influenza pandemic infected one third of the global population and killed 50-100 million people out of the 1.5 billion total population.The spread of pandemic influenza of 1918 was amazing because except for a […]
Dengue outbreak Islamabad 2019 on October 13, 2019Why are there more dengue cases in Islamabad as compared to cases in the whole of Punjab? Rawalpindi also has more cases than the rest of Punjab. Why Islamabad and Rawalpindi have more cases from the rest of Punjab is because the twin cities are facing an outbreak of dengue while other cities in Punjab […]
Dengue outbreak 2019: What Government and the public can do on September 26, 2019It is déjà vu. The number of dengue patients and related deaths are increasing. Hospitals are running out of beds, and everyone, including the government, is hoping for an earlier arrival of winter to control the outbreak. A panic is setting in, and panics are not good for the country, no matter what the reason […]