[ad_1]
RATODERO, Pakistan (Reuters) – Doctors in a town in Pakistan are struggling to cope with a surge in HIV-infected patients, the virus that causes AIDS, with nearly 700 cases since April, most of them children.
A two-year-old HIV-positive girl, who is undergoing treatment, goes through a medical check-up routine at a clinic in Ratodero, Pakistan May 24, 2019. Picture taken May 24, 2019. REUTERS / Akhtar Soomro
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's doctor said his 16-month-old girl had tested positive for HIV.
"I told him, how can I 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 HIV, of which 537 are children, since April 25.
More than 21.00 people have taken an HIV test at Ratodero's only screening center in a hospital government. Others have been tested at private clinics.
"I have identified the tip of the iceberg. This said, "Dr. Imran Akbar Arbani, who operates a clinic in the town of Lakarna district.
About 60% of Ratodero patients have been infected by HIV / AIDS, or have been screened 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 HIV patients had been infected.
Dr. Muzaffar Ghanghro was arrested on April 30 with a murder, police said.
"Negligence and carelessness of Dr. Muzaffar Ghanghro has been the reason behind the spread of HIV at the later stage," the research 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 children to Ghangro because there was no pediatrician in town. All three became infected with HIV.
"He said the same drip on the children," he said.
'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 United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have a team of experts to the area. They are expected to visit Ratodero on Friday.
"They will carry out a proper investigation into this outbreak too," 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, Mirza said.
The Ratodero cases underscore the state of healthcare in Pakistan, a nation of 208 million where almost a third of the population lives on $ 3.20 a day and where many people can not 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, "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 become infected.
There are 16 HIV cases in our village alone. No one has come to see our plight, "he said.
Reporting by Syed Raza Hbadan; Editing by Darren Schuettler
Source link
