2,304 people screened in Larkana, total number of HIV cases reaches 85

67 children, 18 adults have been tested HIV positive

HYDERABAD: More HIV positive cases continue to emerge as health authorities screen more people, especially children, in Larkana's Ratodero taluka.

Sindh AIDS Control Programme identified several new HIV positive cases during the initial screening on Wednesday taking the total number of cases to 85.

The programme's provincial director, Dr Sikandar Ali Memon, told the media that among the 2,304 people screened so far, 67 children and 18 adults have been tested HIV positive. He said the screening will continue in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a three-member committee, led by Kambar-Shahdadkot SSP, interrogated the compounders working at the clinic of arrested doctor Muzaffar Ghangro, an HIV positive who is suspected of having infected his patients. According to the police sources, the committee recorded statements of compounders, Rizwan Jagirani and Ghulam Shabbir.



Kambar-Shahdadkot SSP Kamran Nawaz told the local media that some doctors will also be included in the investigation team while statements of affected patients and their families will also be recorded. Larkana DIG Irfan Baloch has given seven days to the team to investigate and submit report.

So far the statements of three affected families have been recorded.
Larkana Deputy Commissioner Noman Siddique has said a majority among the infected cases are children. "We received many complaints against Dr Muzaffar. When we screened him, he was detected as HIV positive." A medical board will also examine the doctor's mental health.

The doctor on his part denies that he knowingly infected his patients. He claimed that he himself found out about the virus when he was screened by the programme’s team. "The health department is implicating me to shift attention from the real underlying causes of the spread of HIV," he asserted.

Dr Ghangro was arrested on Monday and booked in an FIR lodged on the complaint of Sindh Healthcare Commission's Dr Abdul Samee Rajper. He has been charged under Section 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code which pertains to attempt to murder. The crime is punishable for up to seven years imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the healthcare commission has sealed over two dozen clinics and laboratories and 15 others have been served notices. The people of Larkana have widely complained against poor medical practices, specifically administering same injections to several patients and the prescribing of spurious medicines.