Islamabad: Only 14 percent of pregnant women in Pakistan who need HIV treatment to prevent passing the virus to their babies are covered, while just 18 percent of the country’s estimated people with HIV receive treatment, Dr Asma Bokhari of GAVI told a paediatric conference on Saturday.
Speaking at a session on the management of HIV in children, Dr Bokhari highlighted low early infant diagnosis coverage, for which Pakistan has no routine national estimate. She cited facility-based studies that found HIV prevalence among pregnant women ranging from 0.35 to 1.5 per cent, underscoring the need for wider screening and follow-up.
Official data show that 1,748 children were registered with HIV across Pakistan in 2025. The latest figures for 2026 cover January to June and list 805 newly registered children in the reporting areas, excluding Punjab. Sindh accounted for 729 of them, including 447 boys and 282 girls. The 2026 figure is therefore an incomplete national tally and does not cover the period after June.
Dr Bokhari referred to the 2019 Larkana outbreak, where only nine per cent of infected children had an HIV-positive mother. More than 80 per cent of detected cases were children in some outbreaks, she said, raising concerns about transmission through unsafe injections, unscreened blood transfusions and procedures involving unsterilised instruments.
In view of this, she recommended that doctors test children with relevant family or medical histories and ask about injections, transfusions and procedures, as well as test the child’s mother. Infants younger than 18 months need virological testing because antibody tests cannot reliably diagnose HIV at that age, she said.
Dr Bokhari said mother-to-child transmission risk, estimated at 15 to 45 per cent without intervention, could fall below two per cent with maternal antiretroviral treatment and a package of antenatal testing, safe delivery, infant prophylaxis and feeding support. She also urged prompt treatment for every child diagnosed with HIV.
The three-day 28th Biennial International Pediatric Conference, organised by the Pakistan Pediatric Association’s Federal Branch under the theme “Next-Generation Child Health Care: From Research to Excellence,” opened on Friday and will conclude on Sunday. More than 5,000 doctors and paediatric specialists from Pakistan and abroad are expected, and the meeting has returned to the capital after a ten-year gap.
In his opening remarks, Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani described child health as an investment in Pakistan’s future, noting that more than 48 per cent of the population was below 18 and calling for evidence-based interventions suited to the country’s needs.
Gilani said neonatal mortality, stunting, childhood obesity, diabetes and vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio, required sustained attention. He stressed stronger neonatal services, routine immunisation, referral systems, primary healthcare and maternal and child nutrition. He also praised the PPA, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America and the University of Child Health Sciences for supporting locally relevant clinical guidelines, and urged that conference recommendations be turned into practical policy.
PPA President Prof. Dr. Masood Sadiq said the Sindh government had enacted an excellent law to promote breastfeeding and curb the marketing of breastmilk substitutes, but parties had challenged it before the constitutional court. He said Gilani had assured the association that he would facilitate such legislation if a bill were presented in the Senate.
Prof. Dr. Maqbool Hussain, chair of the organising committee and president of the PPA Federal Branch, outlined a programme bringing specialists together for plenary and parallel sessions. The first day’s programme covered breastfeeding, life-course immunisation, vaccine hesitancy, meningococcal B disease and HPV vaccination, alongside community interventions to save newborn and child lives. Saturday’s sessions included paediatric gastroenterology, critical care, endocrinology, haematology and oncology, pulmonology, cardiology, and genetics and metabolic diseases.
A session on national paediatric clinical practice guidelines reviewed recommendations for convulsive status epilepticus, acute appendicitis, septic shock, organophosphorus poisoning and diabetic ketoacidosis in resource-limited settings.
PPA Secretary General Prof. Dr. Mohsina Noor Ibrahim presented the association’s annual report. Organisers said recommendations and guidelines developed during the conference would be shared with government institutions.
At the conference, Maj. Gen. (retd) Prof. Salman Ali was elected PPA president, while Prof. Waseem Jamalvi was elected secretary general.
The conference will continue on Sunday with sessions on infectious diseases, nephrology and neurology. Later sessions will cover paediatric surgery, community paediatrics and nutrition, and tropical and behavioural paediatrics. A session on breastfeeding promotion and its challenges is scheduled before the closing ceremony and lunch.
Ends