KARACHI: Pakistan HIV patients face renewed risks as monsoon rains threaten access to antiretroviral medicines and treatment centres, health workers and community groups said.
The concern follows last year’s floods, when people living with HIV in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh were cut off from treatment centres.
Asma Nasim, head of infectious diseases at the Sindh Institute for Urology and Transplantation, said many HIV patients became ill during the floods because they could not access antiretroviral therapy.
Asghar Ilyas Satti, national coordinator for the Association of People Living with HIV-Pakistan, said treatment gaps could cause viral rebound, immune system damage and progression to AIDS.
The warning comes as the National Disaster Management Authority issued fresh weather and flood alerts, including a glacial lake outburst flood warning for parts of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Read: Karachi HIV Children Families Demand FIR
The World Health Organisation reported that new HIV infections in Pakistan rose from 16,000 in 2010 to 48,000 in 2024..
Pakistan’s health ministry said nearly 20,000 patients who had started antiretroviral therapy were considered missing as of May 2026, raising concerns over follow-up and retention.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities in May to strengthen monsoon preparedness and ensure screening of patients in public hospitals for hepatitis and HIV.
Satti said the Association of People Living with HIV-Pakistan would expand its Emergency Response Cell to Punjab and Sindh if floods hit this year.
