HIV positive cases continue to surface at the screening camp established in Taluka Headquarter Hospital (THQ), nine positive cases were detected out of 164 screened for the viral disease on Monday, but no case was found in the Rural Health Center (RHC), Naundero, where 87 people were tested.
The total number of infected people has reached 748, out of which 611 are children and 137 adults. According to the Sindh AIDS Control Program (SACP), 26,107 people from the general population have been tested, of which 748 were found infected with this viral disease. The WHO team accompanied by UNICEF and SACP Provincial Program Manager Dr Sikandar Memon, revisited the THQ on Monday. Memon said four rooms had been vacated in the THQ where doctors would be posted, for which Chandka Medical College Hospital Medical Superintendent and the district health officer of Larkana had been instructed. He said that on the instructions of provincial health minister, treatment and care center in Ratodero for children was being opened. He revealed that the number of HIV positive children was double in Ratodero than the rest of Sindh, adding that the affected children were 611, whereas the number of affected children in other parts of Sindh was 350. He said the WHO team would go back to Karachi and return after Eid on Friday, adding that the team would remain in the area until June 11 to complete its investigation about the outbreak of HIV in Ratodero and its adjoining areas. Memon said the team would also submit its preliminary recommendations and report to the Health Department.
Meanwhile, police could not submit the final challan under Section 322 in the case of against Dr Muzaffar Ghangro. However, they have sent the challan to the district public prosecutor for opinion. The judicial magistrate of Ratodero granted police nine days to submit the final challan in the case.
On the other hand, doctors living abroad are also contributing to control further spread of HIV in Sindh. In this connection, with the efforts by Dr Aziz Soomro & Dr Rizwan from the US, a lecture on “HIV care cascade from diagnosis to treatment ” was organised at the Paeds Medicine Department, which was delivered by Dr Joseph M, Garland, MD, Brown University School of Medicine, via satellite from New York, followed by group discussion by doctors of Larkana, Khairpur Medical College, LUMHS, GMMMC, Abdullah Shah Medical Institute, Sehwan, WHO and SACP.
Dr Farooq Rahman Soomro, former focal person on HIV/AIDS district government, and Prof Dr Saifullah Jamro, HOD, CMC Children’s Hospital, also participated. The fourth lecture will be on “HIV Treatment” on June 9, 2019 at the CMC Children’s Hospital.
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