Pakistan: Amid economic crisis, Sindh faces HIV epidemic

Karachi: Even as the Pakistan economic crisis continues to take a heavy toll of the Pakistani people, the southern province of Sindh is facing an added menace – an HIV epidemic among its children. According to data shared with the media by government officials of Pakistan’s Sindh province, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is spreading rapidly in four districts where dozens of adults and children are testing HIV positive every week. The districts of Larkana, Jacobabad, Qambar Shahdadkot, and Shikarpur have been enduring an HIV epidemic since 2019. Government officials have blamed poor Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - the existence of medical quacks who flout IPC norms with impunity as the reason for the HIV outbreak. Local media quoted officials of Pakistan’s federal government as saying that more than 60 percent of HIV cases in these districts of Sindh have been recorded within the general population over the last four years. The remaining 40 percent of HIV cases were recorded within vulnerable sections of the population such as injectable drug users, transgender males, men having sex with men, and female sex workers.

Pakistan reports world’s biggest HIV outbreak

Pakistan had reported the world’s biggest HIV outbreak among children when hundreds of kids tested were diagnosed with HIV in Ratodero tehsil of Sindh’s Larkana district in 2019. Since then, around 2,800 children have tested positive for HIV in Ratodero and adjacent regions. Government officials have called for the formation of an IPC unit in order to tackle the transmission of HIV as well as other blood-borne infections. They also called for action against quacks and ensuring that IPC regulations are implemented throughout Sindh province. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.