In an alarming rise in HIV related deaths in Larkana district, 48 children have died since 2019
- Poor infection control practices (ICP) including reuse of syringes and unscreened blood have lead to the spread of HIV.
- The team found out that almost every child who tested positive had also received an injection of some kind in the previous year.
- There are an estimated 190,000 HIV-positive people in Pakistan.
According to Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), there are an estimated 190,000 HIV-positive people in Pakistan.
Only 12 percent of these people receive treatment and that is why there has been a 385 percent increase in HIV-related deaths in Pakistan since 2010, a report by New York Times revealed. Sub-Saharan Africa has had a 45 percent decline of the infection over that same time period.
As Pakistan's 3 percent of the gross domestic product goes toward health, there has been a resurgence of HIV. In 2019, the HIV outbreak in Ratodero, Larkana shook the entire nation. Since its outbreak in the city, 48 children have died from HIV.
“For me it was impossible to imagine,” said Nazeer, recalling the day a doctor said his 16 month-old girl had tested positive for HIV. “I told him ‘are you joking with me, how can she have HIV?’,” he told Reutersin his home in Ratodero.
In order to thoroughly examine the outbreak in Ratodero, Pakistan had sent an international team, with support from Aga Khan University, UN agencies, WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.
The team found out that almost every child who tested positive had also received an injection of some kind in the previous year. They found that poor infection control practices (ICP) including reuse of syringes and unscreened blood have lead to the spread of HIV. Needles and intravenous lines were being reused, despite a 2011 law mandating the production and stockpiling of single-use disposable syringes.
The government had supposedly established a $6.4 million fund for the children and their families, however, the money they were promised, is yet to be received. The New York Times report also revealed that last year in July, due to coronavirus, Ratodero’s treatment center temporarily ran out of medications. Since then, there have been other disruptions, including, at times, patchy staffing and intermittent unavailability of HIV tests.
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