Panic strikes as 13 minors test +ve for HIV

Larkana- In the constituency of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, doctors suggested HIV test for 16 children, aged 4mo to 8yrs, who despite treatment were not recovering even after a month. 13 of the 16 minors tested positive for HIV.

All these cases emerged only in April in a small town of Ratodero. There are 10 health programmes including Aids-Control in Sindh province under the Sindh Health Department but the performance of majority of these programmes remain under question.

In-charge of the Sindh Aids Control Programme Dr Sikander Memon has said that quacks and unnecessary injections, drips were the main cause of the issue. Dr Memon further informed that tests for the HIV positive children and their parents would be retaken immediately.

“Often these laboratories use kits from China which give false results. To verify these results, we will use the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended kits. If there is an issue, we will know about it today or tomorrow,” Dr Memon added.

Replying to a question, Dr Memon said that according to an estimate, there were over 100,000 HIV positive people in the whole country with 85,000 only in Sindh province, however, the Aids Control Programme has only 10,350 registered patients who are provided treatment.