By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare
How many warnings does a healthcare system need before political and medical leaders finally wake up and act? Seven years after the horrific 2019 outbreak in the city of Larkana in Pakistan, where hundreds of innocent children tested positive for HIV, Pakistan is facing another haunting replay of that tragedy. As reported by Betsy Joles for NPR, nationwide medical neglect and carelessness continues to exact a heavy toll on the country’s poorest families.
Ayesha Aftab, a mother from Karachi, sought care at Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital after her children fell ill during monsoon season. Instead of receiving basic medical treatment for her kids, three of her children would be inflicted with HIV.
Sadly, this is because In crowded and poorly funded medical wards, medical staff would routinely reuse dirty syringes and other medical utensils without properly sanitizing them or in the case of needles, properly disposing of them
Aftab states:
“We had never been to these hospitals, so we thought maybe things happened this way.”
This is not an isolated medical incident, but a systemic failure on the government of Pakistan and its medical industry.
The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 350,000 active HIV cases in Pakistan; pediatric infections are on high and on the rise, not through mother-to-child transmission, but through contaminated needles, unscreened blood transfusions, and zero infection control oversight.
For Additional Information And Sources Use Links Below:
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/g-s1-140934/hiv-aids-children-pakistan
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