November 05, 2024 21:56 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy booked for threatening cop probing into mining case | Supreme Court upholds validity of Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Act | Not all private properties are community resources that govt can take over: Supreme Court | Pakistan's Lahore has become world's most polluted city with an AQI of 1900 on Sunday | Indian Army 'successfully completes' patrolling to a key point in Ladakh's Depsang region
Pakistan: WHO supports response to HIV outbreak in Sindh

Pakistan: WHO supports response to HIV outbreak in Sindh

| @indiablooms | 31 May 2019, 11:27 am

An international team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) has arrived in Pakistan to support the response to an outbreak of HIV in Larkana in Sindh province, Pakistan, at the request of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination.

The outbreak was first reported on 25 April 2019, and a major HIV screening programme started on 28 April. It was expanded on 8 May, with additional health workers being deployed. Testing is ongoing.

So far more than 600 HIV cases have been identified. The majority are among children and young people: more than half those affected are children under the age of 5. This poses a particular challenge. Prior to this outbreak, there were just over 1200 children diagnosed with HIV and receiving antiretroviral treatment in the whole of Pakistan.

On 16 May local authorities established a new antiretroviral treatment clinic for children in Larkana.

Key tasks for the WHO-led team will include: ascertaining the source of the outbreak and controlling it; providing technical expertise, particularly in the areas of HIV testing, paediatric HIV treatment and family counselling; and ensuring adequate supplies of rapid diagnostic tests and antiretroviral medicines for both adults and children, as well as single-use needles and syringes.

The WHO mission will include experts in emergency response management, epidemiology, HIV clinical care, and infection prevention and control from WHO as well as the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). The team will work closely with the Ministry and partners, including the Aga Khan University, Pakistan’s Field Epidemiology & Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), UNAIDS and UNICEF in Larkana.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Xi Jinping, Putin in Russia 22 Mar 2023, 02:56 pm
Related Videos