EDITORIAL: The concerns raised at the recent community dialogue in Karachi over the growing number of HIV infections in Pakistan are both timely and urgent.
The warning signs are unmistakable. According to estimates cited at the seminar, new HIV infections have increased threefold, from 16,000 in 2010 to 48,000 in 2024.
Pakistan is now confronting one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region — a distinction no country would wish to claim. Yet despite the gravity of the situation, the national response has yet to match the scale and urgency of the challenge.
What makes the trend particularly disturbing is that it is unfolding at a time when many countries with historically higher HIV burdens have succeeded in reducing transmission through robust prevention, testing and treatment programmes. Pakistan’s experience reflects not merely a medical problem but deeper weaknesses in healthcare regulation, disease surveillance, public awareness, and social attitudes. The outbreaks reported among children in Ratodero, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Taunsa, D.G. Khan and Sargodha have exposed glaring deficiencies in infection prevention and control practices. Unsafe injection practices, the reuse of contaminated medical equipment and weak oversight of healthcare providers continue to place countless lives at risk, while the persistence of unregistered clinics and informal healthcare practitioners further compounds the problem, especially in underserved areas.
Equally concerning is the large gap between the estimated number of people living with HIV and those who have been diagnosed and enrolled in treatment programmes. Limited testing facilities, inadequate counselling services and the stigma associated with HIV discourage many individuals from seeking timely diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, infections often remain undetected until they have spread further within communities. The recommendations emerging from the Karachi dialogue therefore deserve serious attention. Expanding HIV testing and counselling services, promoting routine screening among high-risk and vulnerable groups, integrating antiretroviral treatment into primary healthcare facilities and strengthening public-private partnerships are practical and achievable measures. Wider access to HIV self-testing kits, used in the privacy of home, could also help identify infections earlier and improve treatment outcomes.
However, meaningful and sustainable progress will require greater domestic investment. Pakistan cannot continue to rely heavily on external donors to address a growing national crisis. Adequate funding must be allocated to prevention programmes, treatment services, public awareness campaigns and surveillance systems. At the same time, strict enforcement of infection-control standards, the promotion of safe injection practices, the use of auto-disable syringes and the safe disposal of medical waste should become non-negotiable priorities.
The stigma surrounding HIV must also be confronted. Fear, discrimination and misinformation remain major barriers to testing, treatment and care. Public education campaigns, sensitisation of healthcare workers and the protection of patients’ rights are essential components of an effective response. As a speaker at the community dialogue emphasised, HIV is not merely a health issue; it is a broader social and development challenge. Unless decisive action is taken now, the human and economic costs of Pakistan’s HIV epidemic will continue to rise.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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