THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee and a seven-day report. Ten people have tested positive near the Landhi facility, while screening around Valika Hospital has identified 120 cases, including children. These figures do not by themselves prove hospital transmission; epidemiological links must be established carefully. Yet the detection of cases among particularly vulnerable patients, combined with concerns about reused syringes, poorly sterilised instruments, unsafe blood practices and mismanaged medical waste, makes an independent investigation indispensable. The Pakistan Medical Association is therefore right to seek a judicial inquiry. Internal probes have too often produced reports, suspensions and promises, only for unsafe practices to persist. A credible inquiry must trace each patient’s treatment history, verify laboratory findings, inspect procurement records and determine whether disposable equipment was available and actually used. It should examine private clinics, dental practices, blood banks and laboratories as well as public hospitals. Responsibility must extend beyond any individual who reused an instrument to administrators who ignored warnings, contractors who supplied substandard materials and regulators who failed to inspect facilities.

The Ratodero tragedy of 2019, in which hundreds of children were infected, showed how unsafe medical care could drive HIV transmission, yet weak surveillance, low testing and poor treatment coverage still allow the virus to spread silently. The immediate response should include screening of potentially exposed patients, confirmatory testing, counselling and free lifelong antiretroviral therapy. Children and families must not be publicly identified, stigmatised or treated as suspects, and compensation should follow where healthcare-related transmission is proved. But screening alone is not prevention. Sindh needs unannounced inspections, enforceable infection-control audits, reliable supplies of auto-disable syringes, strict blood-screening standards and licensing action against unsafe practitioners. The authorities must also strengthen biomedical-waste management, train staff repeatedly and publish inspection findings so that compliance can be independently monitored. A province-wide health emergency may be warranted, but it must produce sustained reform rather than political theatre. Hospitals cannot be permitted to become vectors of incurable disease. Restoring public trust requires the resolve to correct a system that has repeatedly failed those who entered it seeking care.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026