Pak court orders inquiry into hospital HIV outbreak

A Pakistan court on Thursday, August 13, ordered an independent inquiry into an HIV outbreak at a Karachi hospital that left six children dead and 94 others infected.

A two-member Sindh High Court bench headed by Justice Adnanul Karim Memon and Justice Muhammad Jaffer Raza directed the provincial chief secretary to constitute an "independent, impartial and comprehensive" inquiry into the outbreak among children at the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution-run Kulsum Bai Valika Hospital. The court also ordered lifelong medical treatment and appropriate compensation for the affected children.

The outbreak was first detected in November, prompting the government health department to conduct screening at the hospital, located in Karachi's industrial zone, and in surrounding areas.

The screening confirmed six deaths and 94 infections among children at the hospital, with another 120 people found infected in nearby areas. Advocate Tariq Mansoor, who filed a petition before the high court in May, has claimed the actual number of infected children is closer to 200.

The bench, hearing Mansoor's plea Thursday, August 13, found that departmental proceedings and reports submitted so far were insufficient to establish the number of people affected, the source and circumstances of transmission, compliance with infection-control protocols and the Sindh Regulation and Control of Disposable Syringes Act, 2010. It said the reports had also failed to fix supervisory and individual responsibility among the officials concerned.

The court said it was necessary, in the interest of justice, transparency and public confidence, to set up an independent fact-finding mechanism, while making clear it was not expressing any view on the guilt or innocence of any individual.

The bench separately issued a show-cause notice to Mansoor over alleged disorderly conduct during the hearing.
(Inputs from PTI)