Islamabad: The federal health ministry is planning an independent review of the sixth round of the Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance after serious objections were raised over its credibility as over ten thousand new HIV cases have been detected across the country this year, officials said on Thursday.
The proposal was discussed at a high level meeting chaired by the Additional Secretary at the Ministry of National Health Services on the directives of the Federal Health Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, and attended by representatives of WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNDP, the Common Management Unit for AIDS, TB and Malaria, civil society and other stakeholders.
Officials said the issue of the sixth round of IBBS came under detailed discussion following concerns by UN agencies and national experts who questioned data collection methods, exclusion of key results and the reported prevalence of HIV among different populations.
Participants agreed that an independent committee of experts from the private sector with a strong reputation in epidemiology, infectious diseases and HIV modeling should be formed to review the exercise along with the broader HIV situation in the country.
CMU officials told the meeting that over 10,200 new HIV cases had already been detected nationwide this year, with fresh outbreaks emerging among children and vulnerable populations, raising concern over both surveillance and prevention efforts.
The Additional Secretary said HIV prevention and control remained a top national priority and assured that the ministry would lead a transparent and coordinated response with clear direction from Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal.
The Director General Health stressed the need to integrate HIV services within existing public health programs, improve provincial ownership and ensure that all planning and resource allocation was based on accurate and verified data.
Officials also discussed the need to strengthen blood safety measures, infection control, integration of HIV testing with hepatitis and maternal and child health services, and to adopt a responsible media communication strategy to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
A Technical Working Group led by the Director General Health with representation from provinces, UN agencies and community based organisations is being established to prepare a focused HIV response strategy with emphasis on integration, domestic funding and provincial participation.
The IBBS sixth round was conducted after almost a decade at a cost of around 3.2 million dollars to assess HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, transgender persons, female sex workers and prisoners across 31 districts.
However, as reported earlier, faint reactive lines on rapid diagnostic tests were excluded during the IBBS, despite WHO and manufacturer guidelines clearly stating that such results should be treated as reactive and must be confirmed through further testing.
Internal documents show that thousands of faint line cases were not retested which officials and experts believe significantly underreported HIV prevalence among key populations, leading to a distorted picture of the epidemic and risk of misinformed policy decisions.
Minutes of meetings and email correspondence reviewed by national and international partners show that IBBS implementers were repeatedly advised to consider all faint line cases as reactive and to retest them, but the instructions were not followed.
Health professionals and community organisations fear that overlooking these results may lead to reduced funding for prevention and treatment services, misallocation of resources and failure to respond to the actual scale of the epidemic.
The ministry is now moving towards appointing an independent committee to restore confidence in the IBBS findings and ensure that future surveillance is transparent, evidence based and compliant with international standards.
The Additional Secretary concluded the meeting with a commitment that the ministry will continue to lead a coordinated, credible and sustainable HIV response, and added that provincial leadership and collective action is essential for progress.
Ends