LARKANA: Prime Minister’s Spe­cial Assistant on National Hea­lth Services (NHS) Dr Zafar Mirza has said that unusually high number of children among those found HIV positive in Ratodero requires a thorough probe into the reasons that have led to the spread of the deadly virus on such a large scale and particularly among children whose parents are found HIV negative.

Dr Mirza, flanked by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, said at a press conference at Darbar Hall here on Thursday that surfacing of such a big number of HIV positive cases in Ratodero had not only created concern in Pakistan but the issue also echoed in Geneva when he was there. The fact that majority of children were found infected with the virus demanded exploring the reasons other than the known ones of the spread of HIV, he said.

He said the federal government was extending maximum support to the provincial government to effectively combat the HIV/AIDS outbreak in Ratodero. All stakeholders including WHO, UNICEF, USAID, Global Fund, Aga Khan Foundation and other organisations were helping the government in this regard, he said.

The federal government would provide medicines and kits and equip HIV treatment centres to fight the virus and find out root cause of its spread, he said.

He praised the Sindh government for having handled the virus outbreak in Ratodero and said in answer to a question about Sindh government’s demand for 200,000 kits that NHS had 5,000 kits at the moment which it would dispatch to Sindh. More kits would be purchased from abroad and provided to Sindh government immediately, he said. He said that Global Fund had been generously supporting them but the size of its funding would shrink next year. “We are making alternate arrangements to handle the situation in the wake of reduction in funds,” he said and appealed to the provincial government not to be dependent on such funds but tap its own resources.

He underscored the need for depoliticising health and education in Pakistan and asked health personnel to discontinue the practice of reusing disposable syringes which could cause deadly diseases and if no heed was paid to it now, it might lead the nation to the brink of devastation.

Number of HIV positive cases on the decline, says Pechuho.

Dr Pechuho claimed the number of HIV positive cases was on the decline. “After Eid we could have final assessment at blood screening camp at Ratodero taluka hospital,” she said, adding that the camps set up in outreach areas had been closed while the camp at the taluka hospital would continue blood screening exercise.

She evaded a question about whether Sindh health department had an epidemiologist and said that epidemiologists were part of the teams of private health institutions. Three teams from Aga Khan University Hospital were working voluntarily, she said.

She said in answer to a question that Dr Muzaffar Ghanghro alone could not infect all people with HIV and there might be other reasons that they had to find out.

The investigations would take time to reach the actual cause of the virus’ spread but their reports would be published, she said.

About the use of auto-lock disposable syringes, the minister said that the manufacturers had currently no stocks with them but in future it would be made mandatory to use auto-lock syringes at all public and private hospitals.

The adviser and the provincial minister held a meeting with stakeholders in which they were briefed on the virus’ outbreak and the measures taken so far to cope with the situation. Later, they visited blood screening centre at the taluka hospital and the children ward in Chandka Medical College Children Hospital.

Meanwhile, the blood screening camp at the taluka hospital on Thursday conducted tests of 465 persons and of them 16 more were found HIV positive. Luckily, none of the 267 persons who were screened at the outreach centres was found HIV positive, said sources in the Sindh AIDS Control Programme.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2019