A 4-year boy Ghulamullah son of Muhammad Ibrahim Marfani died of HIV in Ratodero. He was residing near the waterlogging drain of Nadir Shah Muhalla. His father told Newsmen on Sunday that his son’s viral disease was detected one and half years ago and local doctors referred him to Children Hospital and HIV/AIDS Treatment Centre in Larkana for treatment where doctors only registered him and gave a few syrups for fever and cough and then asked to leave. He questioned if treatment centres have been established then why HIV affected children are dying, why their viral load is increasing and why CD-4 count is decreasing? He said the National AIDS Control Program and Sindh’s Health Department should investigate this issue forthwith and save children of Ratodero from deaths.
He said the behaviour of the doctors with the affected patients will have to be improved on war footing or else they should be removed from their posts who cannot be patient-friendly.
According to Gul Bahar Shaikh, a local journalist of Ratodero, and Dr. Imran Arbani, who broke the silent killer viral disease at the very outset, about 50,000 people among the general public have so far been screened since the past 18 months of HIV outbreak in Ratodero and its adjoining areas out of whom 2100 have been detected HIV positive. 1372 among them are little children between the age group of six months to seven years and 49 of them have so far expired and the number is increasing slowly, they added. They said one little girl died of HIV co-infections whose father is an influential person.
They said the father of the deceased girl after detection of the viral disease did not bring his daughter to any Centre for treatment because he was afraid of the infamous disease which would degrade him. They said the girl was infected through a local doctor but the fear among the parents has shaken the residents.
They said since the past four months Sindh Government’s health department has imposed a silent ban on sharing HIV data despite commitment which clearly indicates that they are no more interested in treatment of the affected people. They asked if viral disease can be eradicated through imposing a ban on sharing HIV positive data then it is better but what if it exploded like a ticking bomb during next elections?
They said authorities of Sindh Health Care Commission have never checked the doctors’ practice again of using same syringes, drip sets, opening of substandard blood banks, usage of same razors and same material for stitches to the injured patients, unavailability of sterilizers etc. They said even awareness workshops and seminars have been stopped which is really very astonishing.
Dr. Arbani further complained that the endowment fund of Rs one billion announced by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has not yet been released by Sindh Government which also proves that the provincial rulers are not serious in handling this issue which has affected so many families of his home constituency.
