ISLAMABAD: About 98 percent of the confirmed cases of malaria in 2010 were reported from five countries, Pakistan being one of them. Enough has surely not been done to halt the suffering caused by the world’s leading killer infectious disease.
The WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region experiences around 10.4 million cases of malaria and around 15,000 deaths due to malaria every year. Half of the population of the region still lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission.
International funding for malaria prevention and control has steadily increased and reached $1.84bn in 2012. In 2010, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria and 660,000 deaths.
Musharraf held over Bhutto killing
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was yesterday formally arrested over the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, prosecutors said.
The Bhutto case is the second of three cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule for which Musharraf has been arrested.
Musharraf will remain in his villa on the edge of Islamabad where he is already under a two-week house arrest over his decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.
“Today FIA (federal investigative agency) formally arrested General Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto case,” prosecution lawyer Chaudhry Azhar said by telephone.
IMF urges Pakistan to stabilise economy
WASHINGTON: The Intern-ational Monetary Fund urged Pakistan’s government to put more effort into stabilising the country’s struggling economy, after meetings between officials from both sides in Washington last week.
IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Jeffrey Franks said the lender had not received any official request for an aid programme from Pakistan’s top financial officials amid “fruitful discussions” during the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank last week.
Agencies
