[ad_1]
Mukhtar Pervez is anxiously waiting for her daughter to be tested for HIV. She fears that the fever she was suffering from recently was already the first sign of infection. Pervez is one of dozens of mothers lined up in an improvised clinic in the village of Wasayo in Sindh province, southern Pakistan. They all want their children to be examined after diagnosing the AIDS virus in more than 400 people, many of them children. Authorities accuse a pediatrician of mbad infection.
While Pervez is still worried, for others, the worst fears have already materialized. Nisar Ahmed has known for three days that his one year old daughter is HIV positive. Now he needs medicine against the virus. "Damn the doctor who infected all these children," he growls.
Nearby, Imam Zadi is in the lineage of five of his children. She wants to have her examined after learning that her grandson has been infected. "The whole family is in turmoil," she says. Affected families are poor and uneducated. They barely know HIV and AIDS and can not afford drugs. "Who will play with her now?" Asks a mother in tears. She has just learned that her four year old daughter is infected. "And who will marry her later?"
For a long time, HIV was not a problem in Pakistan. But now the virus is spreading fast, especially among drug addicts and prostitutes. In 2017, 20,000 new infections were recorded. According to the United Nations, Pakistan has the second highest growth rate in Asia.
The bad health system makes the situation worse. Especially in rural areas, people often have no choice but to turn to unqualified healers. "According to government information, there are about 600,000 quack doctors across the country, including about 270,000 in Sindh province," said a UN statement.
The doctor denies intention
"To save money, these worms use the same injection in multiple patients, which could be the leading cause of many HIV cases," said Sikandar Memon, who heads the AIDS program in the province of Sindh. "A widespread misbehavior of doctors, without effective control, has repeatedly caused epidemics in Pakistan," said Bushra Jamil, an infectious disease specialist at the Aga Khan University in Karachi.
The pediatrician, whom the authorities blame for the epidemic in Sindh province, claims to be herself HIV positive. Meanwhile, he is sitting in a dilapidated cell in the town of Rato Dero. He denies knowingly infected his patients.
The fact that the alleged perpetrator is behind bars does not help the people concerned. They have an urgent need for education and medication. "We are helpless, I have more children and they are afraid of being infected," says a mother whose daughter has been tested positive. "Please, send me a medicine so that it can heal, otherwise all our children will die, is not it?" (AFP)
Source link
