Islamabad: The reuse of contaminated syringes at a Karachi hospital led to an HIV outbreak that infected 84 children, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal told National Assembly’s standing committee on health, triggering sharp criticism from lawmakers over what they described as weak surveillance, poor reporting and years of regulatory failure in preventing repeat outbreaks.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, the minister said unsafe injection practices at Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital had caused the outbreak.
He said all affected children had been traced, registered and put on antiretroviral treatment, but offered no details on whether criminal or regulatory action had been taken against those responsible for the lapses.
Members of the committee criticised the health ministry’s written briefing on HIV for failing to present a complete and credible national picture.
Lawmakers pointed out that provincial data from Balochistan was missing, while information from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad was either sketchy or not updated, raising concerns that the scale of infections in some regions was being understated.
Several members said the report lacked basic epidemiological analysis, including trends over time, transmission patterns and outcomes of previous outbreaks.
They noted that dozens of HIV positive patients identified at a major tertiary care hospital in Multan were mentioned without any update on whether they were receiving treatment, while data relating to hundreds of cases reported during the Kot Momin outbreak in Sargodha in 2018–19 was not reflected in the latest submission.
MNA Dr Shazia Soomro warned that the quality of the ministry’s documentation was so poor that, if shared with international partners, it would undermine confidence in Pakistan’s capacity to manage the epidemic. Female members of the committee also voiced concern over what they described as systematic under-reporting from some provinces, particularly in relation to women and children.
According to figures discussed in the meeting, around 350,000 HIV cases have been reported over time from Sindh and Punjab. Members were told that about 20,000 new cases were recorded in 2018–19, while nearly 9,700 cases were reported in the first nine months of 2024.
However, lawmakers said the ministry failed to explain whether these increases reflected genuine transmission trends, improved testing, or both.
The committee expressed particular alarm over repeated outbreaks linked to unsafe medical practices, including reuse of syringes and weak infection control in healthcare settings.
Members said the Karachi outbreak involving children was not an isolated incident but part of a pattern that pointed to chronic regulatory failures, poor oversight of hospitals and clinics, and ineffective enforcement of basic patient safety standards.
Responding to criticism, the health minister said higher numbers were partly due to expanded screening, with more HIV testing and treatment centres established across the country in recent years.
He acknowledged that the problem was long-standing and could not be fixed quickly, but said the ministry was working to strengthen surveillance, expand access to treatment and improve coordination with provinces.
Committee members, however, questioned why similar assurances had been given after previous outbreaks, yet unsafe injection practices and weak monitoring continued to surface years later.
They asked for clarity on accountability mechanisms, including inspections of healthcare facilities, penalties for violations and steps taken to prevent unqualified practitioners from carrying out injections.
The panel directed the health ministry to submit a consolidated progress report at its next meeting, detailing concrete actions taken to curb HIV transmission, improve treatment coverage and strengthen monitoring, including the role of non-governmental organisations and the use of donor funds.
Members concluded that Pakistan’s HIV response could not rely on partial data and reactive measures after outbreaks had already harmed patients.
They called for credible nationwide surveillance, strict enforcement of infection control protocols in healthcare facilities and transparent public reporting, warning that without systemic reforms, preventable outbreaks would continue to claim young victims.
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