AIDS outbreak in Shahkot

Sources reveal that two HIV patients have died

NANKANA SAHIB: Over 50 people were tested positive for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in tehsil Shahkot of Nankana Sahib, while the locals feared that more people could be suffering from the disease and screening would reveal the actual number.

The population in the vicinity of Darbar Naulakh Hazari area in Shahkot has been tested positive for the potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

A few people of the affected population had visited THQ Shahkot for treatment nearly eight months back. They were tested positive for HIV after a medical screening.

Soon after the airing of the news that the number of AIDS patients has reached 30, Deputy Commissioner Raja Mansoor Ahmed, flanked by the officers of the Health Department, visited tehsil headquarters hospital in Shahkot and directed the hospital administration to set up an AIDs centre with free medicines and treatment for the patients.

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Sources revealed that two HIV patients have died while the number of patients was over 50, including 23 women and three children. The government is yet to take measures to ascertain the actual number of affected people.

Two AIDs patients, Ahsan Ali, 27 and Hajra Bibi, 25, disclosed that the virus has widely spread in the affected population. The patients are unaware of the disease. They appealed to the government to take immediate effective measures for treatment to halt the growing disease.

Rejecting the number of affected individuals on media, Nankana Sahib Deputy Commissioner Raja Mansoor Ahmed shared with The Express Tribune that the number of affected people was not more than 16, and they are being provided free medicines.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2019.