CHILDREN PAY THE PRICE IN PAKISTAN'S MASS HIV OUTBREAK

  • 14/06/2021

The most affected age group in the 534 HIV positive cases reported so far in Ratodero, Larkana, is 2-5 years, followed by age group 6-15 years. Female children contracted the infection more. The youngest in the outbreak is less than a month old baby while the oldest age recorded is 70 years.These findings are part of a preliminary report submitted by a Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP) team to the directorate general of health services of Sindh (DGHSS).The report suggests immediate action against quackery, including unauthorised laboratories and blood banks.

Pakistan's largest HIV testing and treatment centre was established in the rural town of Rota Dero in the wake of the disaster, dishing out life-saving anti-retroviral drugs.But affected families must cover further costs arising from the illness themselves."They tell us to go for further tests in private hospitals, but we don't have sufficient money," Shar told , describing how his son continues to suffer from regular fever, abdominal and kidney pain.

Around 30 other children are also HIV positive in their small village of Subhani Shar, just a few kilometres from Rato Dero.Pakistan's public hospitals, located largely in cities, are often chaotic and inefficient, leaving rural families to rely on private clinics they can seldom afford that are often stuffed with unlicensed doctors.At least 50 children have died since they were diagnosed, said paediatric specialist Fatima Mir, from Aga Khan University in Karachi, who has analysed the data -- though she had expected the number to be higher given the malnutrition and poverty among families in the area.Authorities blamed a single physician -- a popular child specialist in Rato Dero -- for causing the outbreak.Muzaffar Ghangro is currently out on bail, with court hearings repeatedly pushed back, much to the anger of many families.

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