Crisis unfolds as Lahore's public hospital overwhelmed with young patients
Parents with sick children lined up for treatment in the pediatric emergency room of a Lahore public hospital, part of a rush of young patients brought on by Pakistan's second most populous city's air pollution crisis. (Image credit: Reuters)
'Disturbed and tense'
Holding a nebulizing device to his three-year-old daughter Rameen's nose, engulfing her face in a billow of steam delivering medication to ease her congested airways, Mohamad Qadeer, said, "We are disturbed and tense". (Image credit: Reuters)
50% rise in pediatric patients, say health officials
Thousands of children are suffering from pollution-related health problems in Pakistan. Health officials estimated there has been at least a 50% rise in pediatric patients due to respiratory issues exacerbated by poor air quality in the last month. (Image credit: Reuters)
Hospitals on high alert
Pakistan's provincial health minister Javed Akram said hospitals were on high alert with beds and ventilators set aside for extra emergency cases. Four partial lock downs have taken place since the start of November as well campaigns to promote masks. (Image credit: Reuters)
Children more vulnerable to pollution: Unicef
The UN children's agency says globally outdoor air pollution contributed to 154,000 deaths of children aged below five in 2019. "Children are physiologically more vulnerable to air pollution than adults because their brains, lungs and other organs are still developing," said Unicef. (Image credit: Reuters)
From blooms to fumes: Lahore's metamorphosis into a city of pollution
Lahore, which is known as the city of gardens, has now been choking with toxic smog that placed it as the world's worst for air quality last year. (Image credit: AFP)
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