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THE interior minister of Pakistan had said the other day that whether “we admit it or not, this system has collapsed” and that “this system has to be reset”.
The healthcare system of Pakistan is sadly a clear illustration of what the minister said, and the spread of HIV and hepatitis C symbolise this collapse. The latest reported figure of small children infected with HIV in the country due to reused syringes and transfusion of unscreened blood is 7,500, minus cases in 2026 from Punjab, which has reportedly not bothered to share its data with the federal government. The total number of deaths due to HIV is reported to be 25,000. The number of children’s deaths is not available. As for the case of hepatitis C, we have the world’s largest infected population, ie around 10 million. The current estimated prevalence of hepatitis C in Pakistan is 7.5 per cent, which is also the highest in the world. Twenty per cent of the global burden of hepatitis C is in Pakistan alone. HIV and hepatitis C share the same modes of transmission.
Imagine a mother who takes her child to a health facility for a minor ailment — cough, fever or diarrhoea. The child is given an injection through a syringe which has been used on other patients drawing from the same multi-dose vial, or through a cannula that has also been reused or an IV drip. After a few days of this “treatment” the child starts losing weight and falls sick again and again. Every visit to the health facility brings the same “treatment”. Eventually someone suspects immune deficiency and tests the child for HIV and s/he turns out to be positive.
