Health experts urged Pakistan to conduct its first nationwide HIV survey after Sindh registered 729 children with the virus during the first half of 2026.
Health Services Academy Vice Chancellor Professor Shahzad Ali Khan called the figures a paediatric HIV epidemic. He also demanded an immediate epidemiological investigation.
Official registration data showed that Sindh accounted for 729 of 805 child HIV cases recorded nationwide from January through June, excluding Punjab. However, the data did not identify how the children acquired the infection, The News reported.
Khan identified poor infection-control practices, the reuse of syringes and intravenous equipment, and inadequately screened blood as likely drivers of transmission. Moreover, he also called for mass screening, self-testing, public awareness and contact tracing.
He proposed beginning population-based surveys in known hotspots. Authorities could use existing records to trace previous outbreaks and map how infections spread before expanding the exercise nationwide.
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Public health expert Professor Javed Akram said HIV had spread silently in Pakistan for nearly three decades. He attributed rising registrations partly to increased testing but said routine surveillance could not establish the virus’s actual prevalence.
Pakistan registered 14,182 new HIV cases in 2025. Further, the country recorded more than 8,000 cases during the first half of 2026, according to figures.
Aga Khan University infectious diseases specialist Dr Faisal Mahmood urged authorities to more strictly regulate private and informal healthcare providers. He also recommended targeted HIV screening for hospitalised children and better training for general practitioners.
