KARACHI: Scores of families whose children contracted HIV infection, leading to at least nine deaths, in an apparent case of serious medical negligence at a government hospital last year gathered at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday to demand the registration of an FIR against the hospital staff concerned.

They also asked for proper treatment for their children and financial compensation.

According to the details shared during the presser, the total number of affected HIV children is 200, some of them born at the Kulsoom Bai Valia Hospital in SITE, a Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (SESSI) facility under the labour department, while the rest were admitted for some other illness.

Appearing visibly drained, parents, represented by their lawyer Tariq Mansoor, shared their heartbreaking ordeals, which continue to this day, as they struggle to ensure timely treatment for their surviving children amid acute poverty, fears of losing their jobs, and even threats from certain quarters that do not want them to pursue their case.

Parents demand FIR over alleged negligence; seek quality treatment, compensation and completion of inquiry

From September to November last year, they said, families had been running from pillar to post in search of justice, but the government had offered them no hope.

They asked the authorities what kind of crime their children had committed that their lives and futures had been destroyed before they could even feel their existence.

“Life has become a living hell for us. On the one hand, we helplessly see our children’s suffering; on the other, we can neither socialise nor sleep. Some families have broken apart (due to the social stigma attached with HIV), and there are children whose admissions have been cancelled when school staff came to know about their health status,” remarked Owais, father of an HIV-affected boy.

The parents alleged that the concerned hospital didn’t share records of their children when the news of an HIV outbreak surfaced at the facility.

“They told me that my grandson doesn’t have HIV. I didn’t believe them and got him tested at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). When the report came positive, I cried bitterly,” recalled Muammar Khan.

One major problem all parents are experiencing is frequent illness of their HIV-affected children, which not only severely affects their physical and mental well-being but also compounds their financial challenges.

“Living hand to mouth, these families are facing immense financial pressures as their wages are deducted whenever they have to take a day off to attend to their medical needs,” said Advocate Mansoor, alleging that families were being harassed and threatened not to pursue their case.

On behalf of the families, he demanded that the inquiry into the case be completed on a priority basis and made public.

He explained that only the health secretary could get an FIR registered under the Sindh Regulation and Control of Disposable Syringes Act, 2010, regretting that parents whose children died could not use this option. “This hasn’t been done despite the passing of so many months, indicating the government’s lack of interest in the matter. This also means that no serious effort could be initiated to prosecute those involved in medical negligence.”

He alleged that an effort was being made to cover up the crime and delay the case, as an independent inquiry would expose many influential persons.

He said: “The HIV outbreak occurred due to the use of contaminated syringes that can’t be sold, used and manufactured under the law. Such syringes are the root cause of the outbreak, and the government must take action against anyone involved in these practices.

“The disposable syringes act strictly prohibits the manufacture, sale, and use of conventional syringes. It mandates the exclusive use of auto-break syringes that render themselves unusable after a single injection to prevent the spread of disease.”

Delving further into legal bottlenecks, Mansoor said that the government’s seriousness over patient health safety could be gauged from the fact that it hadn’t yet framed rules of the Sindh Regulation and Control of Disposable Syringes Act, 2010.

“While the government is spending billions of rupees on the hepatitis and HIV/AIDS programme with the support of foreign donors, it’s unable to nip the health crisis in the bud. Sixteen years have passed, but this act couldn’t be implemented,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said he had approached all concerned government officials, including the Sindh Healthcare Commission, but received no positive response, forcing him to contact international organisations, such as Unicef and the International Labour Organisation, to help these aggrieved families.

“Are these families being ignored because they are poor? The government’s silence has forced us to seek support from international bodies since Pakistan is a signatory to different conventions on children’s rights and workers’ rights,” he said, adding: “We want these bodies to use their influence and ask the government of Pakistan to take responsibility for these children by providing them quality treatment either at the AKUH or send them abroad with one of their family relatives.”

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026