MIRPURKHAS, Pakistan (Kashmir English): Mirpurkhas district in Pakistan’s Sindh province is rapidly emerging as “another Larkana” in terms of rising human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) cases among children, with 150 testing positive for the virus in 2024 alone.
Official data has revealed that the district now accounts for over 26% of the 568 paediatric HIV cases reported in Sindh in 2024. The emergence of the disease at a large scale has raised concerns among the authorities over the escalating health crisis in the region. On average 48 children were testing positive for HIV every month in the province.
According to the latest figures compiled by provincial health authorities, a total of 568 children were diagnosed with HIV across the province last year, including 78 boys and 72 girls from district Mirpurkhas alone.
Other districts with high paediatric HIV cases include Larkana, where 52 boys and 35 girls tested positive, Hyderabad (36 boys and 25 girls), Shikarpur (27 boys and 19 girls) and Jacobabad (23 boys and 15 girls).
Sindh, which remains the second most HIV-affected province in the country, reported 3,446 new HIV cases in 2024. These included 813 women, 1,811 men, 254 transgender persons, and 568 children.
On average, 287 new HIV cases were reported every month in Sindh last year, including 48 children diagnosed monthly.
Rising HIV incidence
Infectious diseases experts blame poor Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for the rising incidence of HIV among children, citing the reuse of syringes and IV drips by quacks and even some registered medical practitioners in rural Sindh as the major cause of disease transmission.
Karachi remains the worst-affected urban centre, which reported 969 new HIV cases last year. District-wise, Karachi South recorded the highest number of cases (184), followed by Malir (164), Central (157), East (151), Korangi (134), West (112), and Keamari (67).
Health experts believe the increasing number of paediatric HIV cases in Mirpurkhas district is reminiscent of the 2019 Larkana outbreak, where hundreds of children were infected understandably due to unsafe medical practices, particularly the reuse of syringes.
