In two years, the number of children with HIV has more than tripled. The locals are somewhat helped by Pakistan’s largest testing center in the city of Rota Dero, which was established just two years ago, when HIV began to spread in children. But the families of the sick need to take more tests in private clinics, for which they usually have little money.
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Many locals still had no idea about HIV, but the virus now plays a key role in their lives: “The government has not provided us with any antibiotics or multivitamins and we cannot afford to buy them. We are doomed to extinction, “said 25-year-old Hákima Šárová, who herself had a positive test for HIV.
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Authorities blame the pediatrician
About 50 sick children have died so far, but according to pediatric specialist Fatima Marova of Aga Khan University in Karachi, the number of deaths will increase due to the conditions in which families live. In addition, children are often malnourished.
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Local authorities blame the popular pediatrician Rato Dero Muzáfar Ghangra for spreading HIV among children, who police said were supposed to save money by using one syringe on several pediatric patients. Ghangro was detained by police, but was released on bail.
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Pediatr Muzáfar Ghangro
Photo: Profimedia.cz
The pediatrician denies the allegations and claims that other colleagues made it for him because he was a very successful pediatrician. Whistle-blower Imrán Akbar Arbání, who was the first to draw attention to injection practices two years ago, claims that the situation has not changed since then.
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“She’s still as bad as she was two years ago,” said the practitioner with his own private clinic. According to him, the authorities reacted quickly two years ago, but now they are losing discipline a bit.
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“For the first three months, they banned various fraudsters and unauthorized doctors, and closed their clinics. But the same people have already received permission back, “says Arbání. Rafik Chanani, head of the Pakistani Society for Infectious Diseases, agrees with his rhetoric: “Regulatory departments exist only on paper and in documents, but they are practically ineffective.”
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HIV
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) causes AIDS from the English term for “acquired immune deficiency syndrome.”
It is transmitted mainly during sexual intercourse and blood. Normal contact with the infected person poses no risk.
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Following the scandal, the Pakistani government has banned the import of syringes. Physicians now need to use disposable needles, which cannot be refitted, so they only work for one use.
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