Daily Times

While HIV/AIDS cases are on the decrease in different nations, there has been a stressing upsurge of the infection in Pakistan. According to the UNAIDS, the quantity of HIV/AIDS infected patients has reached over 160,000 in 2018. Of these, around 110,000 were male; 48,000 females and 5,500 children under the age of 15. Approximately 6,400 died from this disease. The number of patients in 2008 living with HIV/AIDS in the nation remained 4,300. A current epidemic condition in Tehsil Ratodero of Sindh’s Larkana district indicates a significant increase, especially among children.

On April 25, 2019, the media alerted the local administration in Larkana district about the outbreak. A screening camp was initially established at Taluka’s main hospital. Later, the screening was expanded to other health facilities, including selected Rural Health Centres (RHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs). HIV rapid test kits, which were initially used, were replaced with the pre-qualified WHO test kits.

Consequently, general screening for HIV started, in which, so far, around 37,560 persons from Ratodero have been screened. Over a thousand persons were suspected to be HIV-positive and around 90 per cent of them are children. Later on, these suspected cases were sent to the HIV Treatment Centre for confirmation. The test confirmed 754 children and 141 adults to be carriers of this deadly virus.

Larkana has seen three HIV outbreaks in the previous 15 years. In 2004, it was among intravenous drug users. In 2016, it was connected to a dialysis focus. In 2019, not long ago, it was spread due to the reuse of syringes and intravenous dribbles.

The last outbreak gathered several national and international actors to devise plans and implement them to deal with the outbreak diligently

The last outbreak gathered several national and international actors to devise plans and implement them to deal with the outbreak diligently.

For instance, the UN team worked closely with the federal and provincial governments to provide on-site technical support for helping local partners effectively respond to the HIV outbreak and reduce the impact of the crisis. The UN supported in implementing the “Sindh HIV Outbreak Response Plan, May 2019-Apr 2020,” which includes short-term and long-term steps to identify the causes of the HIV outbreak, address them and strengthen the continuum of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Sindh’s Ministry of Health targeted unlicensed and informal medical practices. As a result, 900 health clinics and unlicensed blood banks were closed.

Nonetheless, the gravity of the matter demands more efforts, not merely to stop quacks, but to control those structures, which produce such quacks.

As the regional director of UNAIDS, Eamonn Murphy, mentioned in a press conference in Karachi, “There is a huge amount of work that needs to be done to improve infection control and support the affected children and their families and the UNAIDS will continue to facilitate and coordinate within the United Nations system and with other partners to ensure the required support is provided effectively and efficiently.”

To understand the mechanisms and structures that make some populations vulnerable to contract deadly viruses such as HIV, the government should engage academics from social disciplines like anthropology. This is because the qualitative studies would bring detailed aspects on the surface.

Perhaps, anthropologists can be highly useful, who can conduct ethnographic works after engaging with concepts like Explanatory Models (EMs), proposed by a physician-turned-medical anthropologist, Arthur Kleinman. They can bring interpretation and understanding to doctors, patients and their families. Of course, they can involve the government and international officials for their accounts. They can explore causes as well as consequences of such diseases.

The government and other stakeholders should organise awareness sessions in different areas of the country, not merely to the local people but also the healthcare providers.

The writer holds an MPhil in Anthropology with a focus on medical anthropology and public health