|
 Health officials suspect the outbreak is linked to reused syringes
and needles and improperly screened blood transfusions.
"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
said in his home in Ratodero, 480 km (298 miles) from Karachi, the
capital of the southern province of Sindh.
His daughter is receiving treatment, he said, adding he did not know
how she was infected.
Health officials say 681 people have tested positive for HIV in
Ratodero, of whom 537 are children, since April 25.
More than 21,00 people have taken an HIV test at Ratodero's only
screening center in a government hospital. Others have been tested
at private clinics.
"I have identified the tip of the iceberg. This could be in the
thousands, not hundreds," said Dr Imran Akbar Arbani, who operates a
clinic in the town in Lakarna district.
About 60% of Ratodero patients were infected by reused needles and
syringes, or through transfusions of blood that were not screened
properly for HIV, said Dr Sikander Memon, head of the AIDS control
program in the province.
Police and doctors conducted an initial investigation and found that
123 HIV patients had been treated by one doctor before they were
infected.
Dr Muzaffar Ghanghro was arrested on April 30 and has been charged
with unintentional murder, police said.
"Negligence and carelessness of Dr Muzaffar Ghanghro has been the
prime reason behind the spread of HIV at the later stage," the
investigation team said in a report.
Reuters was not permitted to contact Ghangro in jail and was not
able to contact his lawyer.
Imtiaz, a laborers, said he had taken his three children to Ghangro
because there was no pediatrician in town. All three became infected
with HIV.
"He applied the same drip on 50 children without changing the
needle," he said.
[to top of second column] |
'SOLD ALL MY VALUABLES'
Pakistan has some 163,000 HIV and AIDS patients, of whom only 25,000
are registered with provincial and federal AIDS control programs,
said Zafar Mirza, a health adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
At Pakistan's request, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent a
team of experts to the area. They are expected to visit Ratodero on
Friday.
"They will carry out a proper investigation into how this outbreak
too place," Mirza told reporters. "I hope in the coming few weeks we
will know the reasons."
The government has ordered 50,000 HIV screening kits and is setting
up three treatment centers. Adult patients are receiving
anti-retroviral drugs and medicines have been ordered for children,
Mirza said.
The Ratodero cases underscore the dire state of healthcare in
Pakistan, a nation of 208 million where almost a third of the
population lives on less than $3.20 a day and where many people
cannot afford expensive medical tests or drugs.
Few families can afford proper treatment for HIV, which usually
involves regular trips to Karachi.
"I have sold all my valuables for treatment. Now I can't afford to
go Karachi for my children's medicines every month," said Tariq, who
lives in a village near Ratodero.
Tariq, his wife and daughter are HIV positive, and a nephew tested
positive this month. He does not know how they became infected.
"There are 16 HIV cases in our village alone. No one has come to see
our plight," he said.
(Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
