Daily Times

Dr Muzaffar Ghangharohas been arrested from Ratodero, Larkana in a case causing fatal disease, Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV] that later converts in the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. [AIDS]. Presently, appximately 45 cases of HIV-positive have been detected; the doctor is also HIV positive. He has been in remand for three days by the local police. DIG Larkana Division has constituted a JIT under the supervision of SSP Qamber-Shahdadkot to ascertain the actual cause of the HIV epidemic.

As per the deputy commissioner Larkana, Dr Ghangharo deliberately used the same syringe to make his patients HIV positive as revenge. The question arises how the doctor himself contracted HIV and from which source. Why did he decide to choose to take revenge by using the same syringe on children? There is panic in the Ratodero area, and all patients of Dr Ghangharo are advised to go for proper examination for HIV. Health Department Sindh has also declared that Dr Ghangharo is the man who spread HIV in children within a locality; Dr Ghangharo has denied the allegation.

Dr Muzaffar Ghangharo, who is employed at a public hospital, is a well-known practitioner in the Ratodero city; he was declared HIV-positive after checking of his blood by the health authorities. Police registered a case against the accused and produced him before a local court.

Speaking from the police lockup, the doctor says he was not aware of being HIV-positive. He has no symptoms to date

The number of HIV-positive cases rose to 45 as panic gripped the district and authorities tried to ascertain the causes behind the spread of the virus among the residents. 22 children are among the patients diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes the deadly AIDS disease that has claimed million of lives worldwide.

Dr Sikander Memon, in-charge of the Aids Control Programme in Sindh said a team is working in Ratodero to determine the causes behind the transmission of HIV among the residents. According to an estimate, there are over 100,000 HIV-positive people in Sindh, however, the Aids Control Programme has only 10,350 registered patients who are provided treatment.Larkana continues to top the list of districts most affected by HIV in Sindh, with the total number of AIDS patients in Larkana at more than 2,400.

In total, 76.1 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV since the epidemic started in the 1980s. Almost 35 million have died.As yet, there is no HIV vaccine or cure, and infected people rely on a lifelong anti-retroviral therapy to stop the virus from replicating.Without treatment, HIV-infected people go on to develop AIDS, a syndrome that weakens the immune system and leaves the body exposed to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, and some types of cancer. Treatment carries side-effects and is costly, but allows infected people to be healthier for longer.

According to the deputy commissioner Larkana, more than 45 people among them 22 childrenwere transmitted HIV by Doctor Ghangharo, who injected the patients visiting him for treatment as an act of revenge. A case has been registered against him by the Sindh Healthcare Commission.

The arrested doctor is said to be mentally ill, and a medical board has been formed to examine him. Speaking from the police lockup, the doctor says he was not aware of being HIV-positive. He has no symptoms to date.

The authorities took notice of the matter as the number of HIV-positive cases saw a sharp rise in the area. The health department has arranged a ward for the affected persons; they will be treated by the government, and a new centre in this regard will be operational in theRatodero hospital.

Officials say the HIV epidemic in Pakistan remains largely concentrated among the key populations, including people who inject drugs, the transgender community, sex workers and their clients and men who have sex with men.The Health Department Should take emergency measures to ban the usage of unnecessary injections, and quack must be withdrawn from clinics.

A transparent inquiry is needed to asceratin whether the doctor was involved intentionally or accidentally. If Dr Muzaffar Ghangharo has transferred HIV deliberately he must be punished. This is a very heinous crime that must not be ignored.

The writer is a retired doctor of the Sindh Health Department