menu_open Columnists
Zafar Mirza

Zafar Mirza

Dawn

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Govt increases levy on high-octane fuel used in luxury vehicles by Rs200 per litre

Govt increases levy on high-octane fuel used in luxury vehicles by Rs200 per litre

“A levy of Rs300 per litre will now be applicable on high-octane fuel used in the most expensive vehicles,” PMO statement says.

22.03.2026 20

Dawn Business

Zafar Mirza

Govt increases levy on high-octane fuel by Rs200 per litre

Govt increases levy on high-octane fuel by Rs200 per litre

“A levy of Rs 300 per litre will now be applicable on high-octane fuel used in the most expensive vehicles,” PMO statement says.

22.03.2026 30

Dawn Business

Zafar Mirza

Diminishing ODA and more

Diminishing ODA and more

In a fast-changing world, we need to start owning our problems.

20.03.2026 80

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Time for internal unity

Only an internally robust, united Pakistan can deal with a complex, dangerous external world.

06.03.2026 70

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Impoverishing expenditures

Catastrophic health expenditure has been rising steadily.

23.01.2026 80

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

People are eating less

Macroeconomic repairs are being carried out by impoverishing the people.

09.01.2026 90

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Lay of the land

Decline is not destiny. All these crises are man-made and reversible.

26.12.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Health governance & IMF report

Without understanding the macro, the micro cannot be fixed.

12.12.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Human effectiveness

The rise and fall of individuals and nations is not a coincidence.

28.11.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Life in circadian rhythm

To be healthy is to be in sync with our circadian rhythm.

31.10.2025 50

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Floods and healthcare

Five groups of healthcare problems are observed during floods.

19.09.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Time for lifestyle medicine

Lifestyle medicine is about holistic care.

22.08.2025 70

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Unpacking the health budget

Pakistan is among the lowest spenders on health.

25.07.2025 60

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Spending $200 billion

Bill Gates’s new deadline is: “20 years to give away virtually all my wealth.”

27.06.2025 70

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Revisiting the NSP

‘Security of Pakistan rests in the security of its citizens.’

13.06.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Development challenges

Human development is the most critical dimension of national security.

30.05.2025 150

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Seat 1C: a second chance

Here is a survivor’s tale of hope, resilience and renewal.

16.05.2025 50

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

NCDs in Pakistan

The epidemiology of NCDs in Pakistan is horrific.

02.05.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

NCDs are food-borne

We are the result of what we consume.

04.04.2025 70

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Reversing NCDs

Heart disease, diabetes and fatty liver are reversible through lifestyle interventions.

21.03.2025 50

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Conflict of interest

Those who are to be regulated must not head the body which is going to regulate them.

22.02.2025 80

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

US withdrawal from WHO

It is a strategic opportunity for China and other BRICS countries to fill the financial gaps and shape the future of global health.

07.02.2025 200

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Polio pains

The up and down trajectory of polio cases in Pakistan reflects our ever-unstable politics.

01.02.2025 60

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

Bribed doctors

A cocktail of measures — educational, managerial, regulatory — need to be taken and interventions need to be made simultaneously and sustainably.

24.01.2025 90

Dawn

Zafar Mirza

UHC monitoring in Pakistan

Pakistan has started to systematically produce an annual national UHC monitoring report.

10.01.2025 100

Dawn

Zafar Mirza