Eidi for every child on the ward

This Eid ul Azha, our nursing team brought the spirit of Eid to the paediatric wards by distributing Eidi to children staying with us.

Turning the ICU blue

Every second counts in the PICU.

The team highlighted the importance of specialised care, continuous monitoring and timely, life-saving treatment for critically ill children. The day also recognised the intensive care teams who support children and their families through some of the hardest moments of their healthcare journey.

We launched a podcast

Our department now has its own podcast. Watch the trailer and tell a colleague.

Chickenpox or mpox? Look at the lesions

The two can look alike but are clinically distinct. Chickenpox lesions usually clear within 10 days and appear in several stages of healing at once. Mpox lesions, like those seen in a recent infant case in Khairpur, are larger, thicker and all the same age. That calls for an immediate PCR test.

Ending a week of critical care with a CPR relay race

PICU Week covered renal support and CRRT, pain, agitation and delirium, and patient liberation. Through expert-led discussion and simulation, participants sharpened their skills and explored safer, more compassionate care for critically ill children.

The week closed with an Emergency Response Competition and a CPR Relay Race that put teamwork, quick thinking and life-saving skills into action.

Pakistan's first National Wastewater Surveillance Strategy

NIH launched Pakistan's first National Wastewater Environmental Surveillance (WES) Strategy and National WES Dashboard, with AKU as a lead scientific partner alongside Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore and the Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative.

Wastewater surveillance reads community sewage to see which pathogens are circulating, often before patients reach a clinic. The Karachi arm is led from within our department, through the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory. In a year the team took it from concept to a working system: a sentinel site in each district, a customised testing panel, and a lab pipeline that pairs targeted testing with metagenomic sequencing.

Shaping WHO guidance on mass azithromycin

Dr Sajid Soofi, Dr Shabina Ariff and their team presented the systematic review behind new WHO guidance on mass drug administration (MDA) of azithromycin to children under five. AKU researchers sat on the evidence-synthesis team, reviewing child morbidity, growth and antimicrobial resistance. Prof. Fyezah Jehan attended the meeting as an invited expert delegate.

The group weighed the safety and effectiveness of MDA, the adequacy of the evidence, and the trial and operational steps needed before implementation, bringing together evidence, feasibility, equity and values to make recommendations that are rigorous and practical.

Kangaroo Mother Care, at home, in Dadu

Dr Shabina Ariff shared findings from a community-based KMC trial in Dadu. The low-cost approach was practised at home with support from Lady Health Workers and families, fathers included. The trial saw fewer newborn deaths and fewer cases of sepsis, with high rates of exclusive breastfeeding.

Next step: bringing KMC into the health system at scale.

From a district pilot to the national table

Jamshoro: AKU signed an MoU with the Sindh Department of Health, SICHN and PPHI Sindh to introduce maternal RSV vaccination through routine antenatal care in District Jamshoro. Led by Dr Imran Nisar, the initiative aims to cut severe RSV illness in young infants and build the local evidence Pakistan's immunisation programmes need.

Islamabad: At the RMNCH Technical Working Group at the Ministry of National Health Services, Dr Muhammad Imran Nisar presented the case for introducing the maternal RSV vaccine nationally, to protect infants in their most vulnerable first months.

Dais should work with hospitals

Thousands of babies are born at home in Karachi each year, delivered by traditional birth attendants with decades of experience. Their knowledge has rarely been documented. Dr Fyezah Jehan and her team invited dais to map and share their own practices, so community knowledge and research can meet.

Autism and ADHD did not appear after COVID

They have always been present, though many children went undiagnosed or were diagnosed later in life. Genetics, lifestyle changes and growing awareness all shape how we understand these conditions today.

How common is primary microcephaly?

Globally, primary microcephaly affects between 1 in 100,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 people. In Pakistan the figure is about 1 in 10,000, driven by genetic factors and a lack of timely prevention within families. Dr Fatima showed how deeply these mutations run in family lineages. Without medical intervention, the cycle continues across generations.

Teaching pedigrees in Hyderabad

Dr Bushra Afroze, Associate Professor and clinical biochemical geneticist, led the 2nd pre-conference workshop on Genetic Risk Assessment and Pedigree Drawing for the Child Health Conference 2026, organised by the Department of Paediatrics at LUMHS Jamshoro.

Participants learned to identify the key elements of genetic risk assessment, work out inheritance patterns and recurrence risks, and draw and interpret family pedigrees for clinical practice. The organisers honoured Dr Afroze with a shield and a Sindhi ajrak.

Moderator Dr Shamaeel · Indus Hotel, Hyderabad · 12 September 2026

On screen time

How much screen time is too much for young children? Our experts weighed in with UNICEF Pakistan.

A BBC documentary on HIV and unsafe injections

A BBC Eye investigation drew attention to unsafe injection practices in Pakistan and the risks they carry. For Prof. Fatima Mir this is not a new conversation: for years her research, clinical work and advocacy have focused on cutting unnecessary injections and making care safer.

With Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr

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