IRD

SZABIST University's Department of Public Health and IRD’s Mental Health team have signed an agreement to launch a youth-led program to enhance youth resilience in Karachi’s universities and vocational training centers.

The program aims to provide a supportive educational environment and empower youths, we aim to empower young people to make informed lifestyle choices, recognize and prevent mental health issues, and advocate for their own needs. A toolkit will be developed to offer practical strategies for institutions, educators, and students to improve physical health, mental well-being, and advocacy skills.

The program is funded by the Resilience Futures Pakistan Initiative and supported by the English-speaking Union of Pakistan and People's Palace Projects at Queen Mary University London. We look forward to the positive impact that this collaboration will have on youth.

SZABIST

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Position: Research/Program Associate
Department: TB Program
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Apply at: https://ird.global/job/programresearch-associate/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

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Position: Executive Administrator
Department: Maternal and Child Health
Location: Remote
Apply at: https://ird.global/job/executive-administrator/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

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Position: Director, Maternal and Child Health
Department: Maternal and Child Health
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Apply at: https://ird.global/job/director-maternal-child-health/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

The 7th Quarterly Review Meeting for IRD, focused on Maternal and Child Health in Sindh, was held on 13 June 2024 at the IRD Office in Karachi. Dr. Muhammad Naeem Rajput, Project Director of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), Government of Sindh, chaired the meeting.

Ms. Mariam Mehmood, Deputy Director of MCH, presented the MCH portfolio and highlighted the impact of various projects. Achievements she outlined included the enrolment of over 10 million children in the Sindh Electronic Immunization Registry and the incentivization of millions of children in low-coverage districts under the Choti Khushi Immunization Incentive Support Program. She also shared updates on the Mobile Immunization Vans that provide support in scattered and hard-to-reach areas, the Pregnant Women and Birth Registry program, which enrolls women and children at the facility level, and community outreach activities.

The combined efforts of IRD and the Government of Sindh have resulted in significant improvements in immunization rates. Our continued partnership will lead to better health outcomes for the children of Sindh and Pakistan as a whole.

EPI Sindh

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Position: Senior Officer/Assistant Manager, HR
Department: Office of Global Human Resources
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Apply at: https://ird.global/job/senior-officerassistant-manager-hr/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

Dr. Subhash Chandir, Permanent Director, IRD took the stage as a keynote speaker at the 6th FUSE International Conference held at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY on Jun 11-12 to discuss the challenges faced by Lady Health Workers (LHWs) in Pakistan. He highlighted IRD's unique training program, focused on building character strengths and well-being for these vital healthcare providers.

Danya Arif Siddiqi, Deputy Director, Maternal and Child Health Program, IRD also presented a poster showcasing the successful deployment of this humanities-based curriculum. The program trained over 100 frontline health workers in Sindh, Pakistan, with positive outcomes.

The magnitude is staggering: 37 million youths aged 13 to 15 years use to***co worldwide. This number will only continue to grow if we do not take a firm stand against ci******es, e-ci******es and flavored to***co.

IRD stands with the World Health Organization in advocating for a to***co-free world, so that generations to come can enjoy better health. We say YES to life and NO to to***co.

Wishing all who celebrate a blessed, peaceful and joyful Vesak Day!

Humanly Possible: Empowering Frontline Health Workers!

IRD celebrates and the power of collective action! Nowshaba Naz, MCH Field Manager, shares her experience:

John Templeton Foundation

Bringing Vaccines to Doorstep!

Immunization for everyone is humanly possible, sharing the significance of vaccines in communities is the starting point.

IRD's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) program is making a difference with mobile immunization vans! These vans bring essential vaccinations directly to communities in remote areas.

IRD’s mobile immunization vans reach where no one else reaches. Vaccinators ensure that communities in remote areas have access to vaccination and people who are missing out on vaccinations are getting them regularly. The van arrives with a trained vaccinator and serves as a temporary vaccination clinic, where the vaccinator registers the child, administers vaccines, checks vaccination records and resolves their ambiguities related to vaccination.

With these mobile immunization vans, parents get their children vaccinated at their doorstep and also receive important health information from the vaccinators.

IRD, in collaboration with EPI Sindh, conducted Sehat Mela (Health Fair) today at Safari Park, Karachi, Pakistan to celebrate this year’s World Immunization Week.

The event was inaugurated by Dr Mohammad Naeem Rajput, Project Director EPI Sindh, who acknowledged the remarkable efforts of frontline health workers in creating immunization awareness. The PD EPI along with Dr Farhana Memon, PD Sindh LHW RMNCH, and the Director, IRD Global launched the Caregiver Application which will enable caregivers to keep track of their children's vaccination schedules and health-related updates.

The three-day event from April 26 to 28 April 2024 aims to raise awareness about the importance of immunization and create a fun-filled environment for families to learn about the consequences of missing vaccines.

From interactive stalls to theatre performances, and learning games, Sehat Mela offers something for everyone.

Meet Mohammad Mustafa and Ayesha, who care and love their children; and are determined to ensure their children's well-being. With the help of IRD's Choti Khushi Immunization Incentive Support Program, their youngest, Mohammad Osman, recently received essential vaccinations at Gareeb Nawaz Dispensary.

The program is giving incentives to parents to bridge gaps like immunization awareness and empowers families like Mustafa's to take proactive steps in protecting their children's health.

EPI Sindh

Arif Khan, a dedicated father, prioritizes his children's health by ensuring they receive essential vaccines.

Through the Provincial Zindagi Mehfooz Electronic Immunization Registry's SMS reminders, his child Zainab is now fully vaccinated.

With over 10.2 million children enrolled since 2017, the collaboration between IRD and EPI Sindh is playing a pivotal role in enhancing Pakistan's immunization rates.

Ready to re-imagine Public Health? Come join us and be the change-maker!

Position: Head of Human Resources
Department: Office of Human Resources
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Apply at: http://ird.global/job/head-human-resources/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

IRD is committed to ensuring that underprivileged communities receive equitable access to healthcare and are empowered to take charge of their own health.

We are glad that this basic human right is the focus of World Health Day 2024 and will continue championing the right of communities to quality healthcare and information across the 15 countries in which we operate.

Wishing all who celebrate a happy, peaceful and joyful Easter!

IRD's team has successfully completed the Personal Excellence Course!

Recently, 15 IRD senior employees and partners attended the 5-day programme focusing on transformation in the areas of personal growth and relationships. The course was conducted near the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa by personal and business transformation expert Schuitema. Participants discovered key elements of personal excellence such as self awareness, relationship-building, and eliminating toxic thought patterns — all of which are crucial for success both in terms of leading people, as well as personal fulfilment.

Schuitema Group

Ready to re-imagine Public Health? Come join us and be the change-maker!

Position: HR Operations Lead
Department: Human Resources
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Apply at: https://ird.global/job/operations-lead-human-resources/

Please reach out to [email protected] for further details.

Wishing all who celebrate a colourful and joyful Holi!

IRD stands in solidarity with the millions of people who fall ill with tuberculosis every year.

On World TB Day, we salute the frontline health workers who are fighting to . We aim to end TB by rigorously working towards better detection, diagnosis and treatment of this curable disease.

Joining hands for 2024, the endTB trial community – patients, caregivers, & Community Action Groups (CAGs) – met at IRD’s Community Dissemination Event.

They celebrated their contribution in advancing knowledge for the treatment of MDR-TB. Their collective stories, shaped by resilience and solidarity, underscore the powerful bond between individuals & affected communities.

Unitaid Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF Partners In Health

Last week, IRD's WellCheck Health Heroes Initiative organized immersive engagement activities at the STEAM Muqablo 2024 final-day event, which was a provincial-level competition organized by STEAM Pakistan to solve real-world challenges using science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. IRD supported the event with a ‘Health Heroes’ segment for over 4,000 children from more than 120 schools.

Through interactive activities, we emphasized the importance of physical health, first aid safety, mental and social well-being, and nurturing self-confidence and resilience in young minds.

WellCheck STEAM Pakistan

Wishing all who celebrate a peaceful and happy Ramadan!

At IRD, we strongly advocate the rights and inclusion of women!

This International Women’s Day, let us all work towards inclusion and inspire women to be included. It is commonly observed that when women feel involved and are inspired to participate, their sense of belonging, involvement and empowerment increase.

Every baby deserves a healthy start in life.

Our health workers screen, detect, and refer babies with external congenital anomalies for timely management. Every month, over 2000 babies born at the highest volume public birthing hospitals in Karachi benefit from IRD’s surveillance program.

We are pleased to have been able to share our experience with surgical care programs in Pakistan at the recent Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery conference in Manila, Philippines. Apart from a poster on the CARe congenital anomalies program entitled "Transferable lessons from a health-worker-led congenital anomaly screening program in Pakistan', Dr Shazia Moosa, Senior Manager, Global Surgery, presented a session called "Changing policy and practice for male circumcision: the Pakistan experience" which focused on our learnings from conducting the Safe Circumcision Training Program.

Global Initiative for Children's Surgery

Our Human Resources team in Pakistan is keeping up the talent attraction momentum with presences at two recent career fairs at Habib University and SZABIST on February 17 and 21, 2024 respectively. The team enjoyed connecting with budding talents from both universities to showcase career opportunities at IRD, and also had many pleasant interactions with faculty members.

If you are keen on a career with us, check out our job listings at https://ird.global/job/.