Daily Times

Sindh has been in the headlines for mostly wrong reasons; year 2019 has been oppressively troublesome for the Sindh government.

HIV/AIDS:

On April 25, 2019 authorities in Larkana announced the outbreak of HIV in RatoDero, a little city near Larkana in Sindh, at least 1,100 people, over 900 of which were children under 12 years old. On 1 June 2019, 251 people were screened for HIV, of which 9 people were found to be HIV positive. In total, 26,041 people have been screened for HIV since the outset of the outbreak and 751 people have tested positive for HIV. Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asserted that the disease was not a death sentence. HIV is not a death sentence, the conflation of HIV & AIDS is fueling stigmatisation of the most vulnerable people in Pakistan. This cannot and should not be tolerated, I stand by my fellow Pakistanis who have contracted HIV, be they in Ratodero, Swabi, Sargodha or Turbat. Bilawal announced setting up an endowment fund to insure free and lifelong treatment of people living with HIV/Aids in Sindh. At least 132,000 people in Pakistan have been diagnosed with Aids but Sindh was in headlines for few weeks. The reports are that 60,000 people in Punjab have Aids, 52,000 in Sindh and 17,000 each in KPK and Islamabad.

The Ministry of National Health Services submitted a report before the Supreme Court bench in August 2018 that Pakistan has an estimated 150,000 HIV patients of which around 75,000 are in Punjab, 60,000 in Sindh and around 15,000 of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are based in KP and Balochistan. With almost 133,529 people estimated to have contracted HIV, Pakistan is one of few regional countries to witness an increasing number of cases. Karachi is identified as one of the top cities globally with a rise in HIV prevalence.

In June 2019, 2863 new cases of HIV were registered in Faisalabad, Punjab. Most of the diagnosed patients were drug addicts and had acquired HIV through reused syringes and needles, treatment by local fraudulent healthcare providers, also known as ‘quacks’ and dental surgeries with improper sanitation. The patients hailed mainly from nearby urban centers such as Chiniot, Sahiwal, Jhang, and Nankana Sahib in Punjab. According a report between July 2014 and December 2016, Global Fund contributed $9.023m for Pakistan’s HIV programme. Out of which $1.3m was spent in Punjab, $0.84m in Sindh, $0.43m in KP and $0.36m was spent in Balochistan.

The following message is placed on federal government’s website about HIV/AIDS:

Government of Pakistan considers preventing and controlling HIV and AIDS as one of the most important health priorities.We do understand underlying challenges related to increase infection in the country and we will deploy more domestic resources. Dr Zafar Mirza, State Minister of Health’s message on National AIDS Control Programme’s website.www.nacp.gov.pk

Dengue:

From 8 July to 12 November 2019, a record breaking number of 47,120 confirmed cases of dengue fever, including 75 deaths, were reported from the four provinces, the highest number of patients was recorded in the capital, Islamabad, and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi. KP: From 8 July through 12 November 2019, a total of 7,641 confirmed cases of dengue fever were reported from KP and KP Tribal Districts.

Punjab: From 1 August through 12 November 2019, a total of 9,676 confirmed dengue fever cases. Islamabad: From 6 August through 12 November 2019, 12,986 confirmed cases of dengue fever, including 22 deaths. Sindh: From 1 September through 12 November 2019, a total of 12,053 confirmed cases of dengue fever, including 33 deaths. Balochistan: From 18 September through 12 November 2019, a total of 3,075 confirmed cases of dengue fever were reported with three deaths.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s government in Sindh must find a resolution for the garbage collection from all over Sindh, Karachi in special, eco-friendly public transport projects and above all clean water supply to the residents of Karachi

Stray Dog Bite:

During 2019, around 187,000 dog-bite incidents have been reported in Sindh, 23 people including children died because of dog bite. These were the headlines in electronic, print media. Social media was not behind too, it was not brought up in mainstreamed media what was the cause behind the shortage of vaccine. Most anti-rabies vaccinations in Pakistan were imported from India and China, since China has eradicated rabies, the company who was supplying vaccine in Sindh has been closed down, and India either not exporting the vaccine or Pakistan is not importing because of Kashmir issue. The vaccine imported from India costs Rs1,000 whereas the one imported from Europe costs Rs70,000.

Hepatitis:

Pakistan holds the second highest prevalence of HCV in the world. Pakistan has 12 million cases of hepatitis B and C (HBV/HCV) and is therefore highest country in the world to have such a high disease occurrence. In Pakistan, each New Year brings about 150 000 new cases. I don’t recall when was the last time hepatitis was discussed in talk shows or made any headlines in print media.

Overlooked projects of Sindh government:

In 2015 current Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Billion Tree Tsunami aims to turn the tide on land degradation and loss in the mountainous. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has added three-quarters of a billion new trees, as part of a ‘tree tsunami’ in a year. The project has proven so popular that the former Prime Minister’s federal regime announced to implement its own “Green Pakistan Programme”. The objective of the programme was to plant 100 million trees all over the country over the next five years.However only Sindh Province followed the project of planting more trees across the province. The Sindh forest department successfully broke its earlier Guinness World Record of planting the most trees in 24 hours by planting 1,129,294 mangroves on an island near KetiBunder in Thatta district of Sindh. According to DG Coastal Development Sindh, mangrove trees had already been planted on 500,000 acres area of the province’s coastal land by the forest department. In September this year the Sindh government invited individuals and organisations to make green spaces, an area of grass, trees, or other vegetation set apart for recreational or aesthetic purposes, across the province by utilising lands available with the public health and rural development department, extensive tree plantation has been planned on both sides of Malir and Lyari Rivers. Advisor to the CM Sindh, Barrister MurtazaWahab has been active for a green Karachi well before the 2018 general elections.

Plastic ban:

Following in the footsteps of the federal capital and taking a lead among the provinces, the Sindh government has taken the first step towards complete plastic ban in the province.Meanwhile, while taking part in the global march for climate change, the Sindh government also launched a drive in Karachi against smoke-emitting vehicles.

Going into 2020:

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in an interview that issues are there in Sindh, we have never claimed that all is well, but we are working on the long term solutions to the problems. Pakistan Peoples Party’s government in Sindh must find a resolution for the garbage collection from all over Sindh, Karachi in special, eco-friendly public transport projects and above all clean water supply to the residents of Karachi.

The writer is a traveller and freelance writer based in UK