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Nearly 700 people, including children, with the virus in recent weeks
Nearly 700 people, including children, have been diagnosed with viruses in recent weeks. PHOTO: EXPRESS / FILE
ISLAMABAD: Following an HIV epidemic with more than 700 cases of HIV-positive patients in Larkana district of Sindh, an international team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) began on Saturday to investigate the sudden spread of HIV. disease.
The team, which arrived in the country Tuesday, will try to determine the source of the epidemic and control it, as well as provide expertise in the areas of HIV testing, pediatric HIV treatment and family counseling.
Health Director Sindh Masood Solangi said nearly 700 people were diagnosed with the HIV virus, including 576 children aged 5 to 5, in the final weeks of the Ratodero town in Larkana.
He added that nearly 25,000 people had been tested for HIV since the end of April.
A WHO team arrives in Karachi to help reduce the HIV epidemic
Earlier this week, Dr. Zafar Mirza, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant to the National Health Services, said that the recent spread of HIV in children was either due to unsafe injections or some other reason have not yet determined.
The outbreak caused panic among locals. Frustrated parents rushed to local health facilities to test their children's viruses.
The authorities have also repressed unqualified doctors as well as illegal blood banks and laboratories that would be involved in the spread of the disease. They arrested at least 17 quack doctors and closed more than 70 clinics in Larkana.
The silent spread of HIV
The provincial government has launched several HIV awareness and control programs to educate families about HIV and its treatment.
Doctors have long regarded Pakistan as a country with low HIV prevalence, but the disease is spreading at an alarming rate. About 20,000 new HIV cases have been reported in 2017 alone, according to the United Nations.
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