331 children HIV positive due to hospital negligence in Pakistan: Infection spread due to re-use of syringes; Disclosure after the death of an 8 year old child

331 children have been found HIV positive in Taunsa city of Punjab province of Pakistan. All these cases were registered between November 2024 and October 2025. Now in this case there have been allegations of serious negligence in the government hospital. A BBC undercover investigation found that syringes were being reused at THQ Tounsa hospital. According to the report, in many cases, injections were given to different children from the same medicine bottle. This increased the risk of spreading the infection. Families of HIV infected children say that their children contracted HIV from infected needles during hospital treatment. Eight-year-old Mohammad Amin died after this infection, while his sister Asma is also HIV positive. According to their mother Sugra, both the children got the infection from the injection given in the hospital. Syringe reused 10 times in 32 hours BBC investigation conducted an undercover recording of 32 hours. It was observed 10 times that syringes were reused in multi-dose vials. In four of these cases, the same medicine was given to other children. Infectious disease expert Dr Altaf Ahmed said after watching the video that the back of the syringe could transfer the virus, even if a new needle is inserted. He called it extremely dangerous. The investigation also revealed that 66 times the hospital staff administered injections without sterilized gloves. A nurse was also seen putting her hands in the medical waste box without gloves. Experts called this a major lack of infection control. However, the new medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Qasim Buzdar, refused to accept these videos. He said that this footage could be old or staged and the hospital is safe. The doctor of the private clinic detected the infection. This outbreak was first identified by the doctor of the private clinic, Gul Kaisarani. He said that most of the 65-70 HIV positive children were treated at THQ Taunsa. Some parents also complained about reusing syringes. According to the data, only four mothers in the families of 97 infected children were found to be HIV positive. This indicates that the infection did not spread from mother to child, but due to other reasons. Data from the Punjab AIDS Screening Program points to “contaminated needles” as the cause of infection in more than half of the cases. However, in other cases the reason is not clear. The government intervened in March 2025 and 106 cases were reported at that time. Dr Tayyab Farooq Chandio, the then superintendent of the hospital, was suspended, but after three months he was again found working in a rural health centre. Dr Chandio said he had taken immediate action, but denied blaming the hospital as the cause of the infection. Dr Buzdar, who succeeded him, claimed he trained staff and implemented a “zero tolerance” policy. Despite this, BBC footage shows that unsafe practices continued even till November-December 2025. Medicine bottles and used needles were found kept in the open. Children in hospital are often given injections through a cannula, which increases the risk of infection because the medicine goes directly into the bloodstream. The hospital and administration denied the allegations. In a video, a nurse was seen giving out used syringes for re-use. When this footage was shown to the hospital administration, they again rejected it. The local government said in a statement that there is no concrete evidence yet that THQ Taunus is the source of the outbreak. Also, in the joint report of UNICEF, WHO and Health Department, private clinics and untested blood transfusion were also cited as the reasons. However, a leaked report dated April 2025 revealed serious shortcomings at the hospital. According to the report, there was a shortage of medicines in the children’s emergency ward, IV fluids were being reused and hygiene conditions were poor. At present, it has had a deep impact on the families of infected children in Taunsa. According to Asma’s family, now people distance themselves from her and she feels lonely. Asma asks her mother, “What has happened to me?” She works hard in her studies and says that she wants to become a doctor when she grows up. Such incidents of HIV spread have happened before. Such incidents have happened before also. In 2019, hundreds of children were found HIV positive in Ratodero, Sindh. By 2021 this number had reached 1500. Meanwhile, a case of 84 children getting infected was also reported in SITE Town, Karachi. The Health Minister admitted that contaminated syringes were used there too. Professor Dr Fatima Mir of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi said that this case shows the weakness of infection control in the entire country. He said that doctors should be more careful while giving injections. He also said that there is a tendency in Pakistan to give more injections than necessary. Patients themselves ask for injections and doctors also give them, while in many cases the medicine can be given orally. Lack of supply is also a big reason. Hospitals are given limited resources, putting pressure on staff to keep them running for long periods of time.



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