Pakistan HIV outbreak: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal blames 'night party goers' for infections
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan HIV outbreak: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal blames 'night party goers' for infections")
Pakistan HIV outbreak: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal blames 'night party goers' for child infections Photograph: (Credit: X)
Pakistan has launched a major investigation after a shocking spike in child HIV cases at a government-run hospital in Sindh, sparking public fury as Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal faces heavy backlash for blaming "night party goers" instead of contaminated syringe reuse.
As Pakistan reports a spike in HIV cases among children, an investigation has been launched to find the cause. Reports suggest dozens of minors were infected in government-run hospitals with the re-use of contaminated syringes. Saeed Ghani, the provincial labour minister, has said at least 78 have contracted HIV at Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital in Pakistan’s southeastern Sindh. And now, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has claimed that not syringes but night partygoers are the reason behind the spike in cases.
The federal health minister revealed that a recent assessment in Islamabad shows a worrying trend: more than 30 new HIV cases are now being reported every month in the capital. This was declared during the Standing Committee for Health briefing.
Significantly, health official Kamal clarified that these newly identified HIV-positive individuals do not fit the historical demographic of people who inject drugs using shared syringes. Instead, he stated that many of the new cases involve young men and women who frequently attend nightlife events. According to Kamal, investigation into these cases revealed that a notable number of individuals visiting these night parties had tested positive for HIV, signalling a shift in how the virus is spreading among the capital's youth.
