As climate change shortens springtime in Islamabad and makes it much less rainy, pollen allergy problems are skyrocketing. District Health Officer Muhammad Najeeb Durrani estimates that more than 130,000 patients with pollen allergy symptoms registered this spring at Islamabad’s various health facilities. Aqeel Mustafa, who enters patient information at the hospital, said he had registered more than 600 pollen allergy patients a day since early March, and by the end of the first week of April the total had hit more than 25,000. To deal with the crisis in allergy admissions, the city’s major government hospitals have allocated special beds, stocked medicines, and announced free diagnosis and treatment for allergy patients. Both winter and spring are growing shorter as a result of climate change, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with summer expanding from 150 to 180 days.

Source: The Express Tribune April 09, 2018 06:33 UTC