HIV: “At least” 329 children infected in Pakistan province, as medical association blames negligence

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has raised alarm over 329 children who have tested positive for HIV in the southeastern province of Sindh in the first quarter of 2026, calling it a sign of major failures in infection control and regulation.A separate BBC investigation reported 331 HIV positive children in Punjab province in 2024 and 2025 in an outbreak linked to unsafe injection practices.Sindh health department data, reported by local media, showed 329 children among 894 HIV cases recorded from January to March 2026.1 The PMA blames the rise on contamination resulting from lax health practices such as reuse of needles in unauthorised clinics, and it warned in a 14 April statement that the reported figure was “merely the tip of the iceberg.”It estimated that the actual number of infected children could be fourfold higher than currently documented, because of the critical unavailability of mass screening facilities across the province.The...