Karachi HIV outbreak exposes cracks in Sindh's healthcare system

A government inquiry into an HIV outbreak among children in Karachi has exposed what it describes as serious lapses at a public hospital, including the repeated use of disposable syringes, inadequate staff training and an alleged months-long cover-up by hospital authorities, raising fresh questions over healthcare standards in Sindh.

In the latest episode of On My Radar, Kamran Khan said the inquiry's findings had cast serious doubt on the Sindh government's claims about the performance of its health sector, arguing that the HIV outbreak had exposed systemic failures in the province's healthcare system.

Khan recalled that On My Radar had reported nearly two weeks earlier that hundreds of children in Karachi's Orangi Town had been infected with HIV. The program alleged that contaminated syringes had been used on children receiving treatment at Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital, which operates under the Sindh Labor Department and primarily serves industrial workers.

According to the program, the practice allegedly continued for an extended period, leaving dozens of children infected with HIV, while the actual number of deaths linked to the outbreak remains unknown.

The controversy has since intensified following the release of an official inquiry report after intervention by the Sindh Ombudsman, which prompted the provincial bureaucracy to investigate the matter.

According to the report, disposable syringes and other single-use medical supplies were repeatedly used on multiple patients at Valika Hospital. It also found that sections of the hospital's medical staff lacked adequate professional training.

The report further acknowledged that the hospital administration allegedly concealed the spread of HIV among dozens of children for several months. It said even the parents of infected children were not informed promptly about their children's condition. As a result, several children reportedly died, while infections continued to rise, making Karachi a major center of HIV infections among children. The report states that 130 children have so far been diagnosed with HIV, although it notes that the actual number of infections may be higher.

The program said the inquiry report contains additional findings, which were presented by its special correspondent, Ikhtiar Khokhar.

Nearly a year after the outbreak, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah convened a meeting on July 13 to review the issue. Officials informed the meeting that 90 children had been diagnosed with HIV and five had died, although the program said the actual death toll linked to the outbreak could be significantly higher.

Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani assured the meeting that affected children would receive medical treatment and that disciplinary action would be taken against 37 officials and healthcare workers found responsible for negligence.

The program also reported that the outbreak was not confined to Valika Hospital. Screening at SESSI Hospital in Landhi identified 10 HIV-positive children, while screening conducted two days earlier in the vicinity of Valika Hospital in Orangi Town reportedly detected 120 HIV-positive individuals.

According to the program, around 1,200 children across Sindh have been diagnosed with HIV over the past year.

Khan said the findings stood in stark contrast to the Sindh government's repeated claims of having one of the country's strongest healthcare systems. He said the government often asserts that patients travel not only from other provinces but also from abroad to seek treatment in Sindh's hospitals. However, he argued that the inquiry's findings suggested some public hospitals had instead become breeding grounds for life-threatening diseases.