KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Saturday expressed profound outrage and grave concern over revelations before the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services regarding the reported infection of 84 children with HIV at a Karachi hospital, terming the incident a catastrophic failure of oversight and a violation of the fundamental right to life.
In a statement, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said the submission of incomplete and redacted data by the Ministry of National Health Services reflected a serious institutional breakdown and a “culture of concealment” that bordered on criminal negligence. “A policy built on hidden facts is a policy built to fail,” he said, adding that unreliable reporting systems presented to the parliamentary committee were effectively blinding lawmakers tasked with protecting citizens.
Dr Shoro said the association was alarmed by the absence of data for 669 reported HIV cases in Sargodha’s Kot Momin area and the lack of updated HIV data from Balochistan. He further pointed to the failure to provide treatment progress details for 31 patients at Nishtar Hospital, describing it as evidence of a breakdown in patient tracking mechanisms.
He said the rising HIV-positive rate, with approximately 350,000 patients reported from Sindh and Punjab alone, reflected a failure to enforce basic biosafety protocols. The reuse of syringes in clinical settings, he added, was not merely negligence but a national crime requiring immediate prosecution. He called for the strict nationwide enforcement of auto-disable syringes in both public and private healthcare facilities.
Referring to the National AIDS Programme’s reported annual spending of $300 to $500 per patient, Dr Shoro questioned the transparency and effectiveness of the expenditure, stating that the investment was neither visible in official documentation nor adequately reflected in services for the 24,000 patients registered for treatment.
The PMA demanded a transparent, high-level investigation against programme heads and officials whose alleged negligence led to the Karachi pediatric infections, insisting that there should be no immunity for those overseeing failing systems. It also called for an independent audit of HIV reporting systems presented to parliament, verification of medical data through factual ground assessments, scrutiny of regulatory council members’ qualifications, and the establishment of a robust real-time digital tracking system to ensure continuity of care for HIV patients.
Dr Shoro said the PMA stood in solidarity with the 84 affected families and would not remain silent while bureaucratic inefficiency and concealment of facts continued to endanger public health. He maintained that the time for mere monitoring had passed and that decisive accountability and systemic reform were urgently required.
