–More than 1,000 HIV positive children face misery as Ratodero HIV controversy continuesLARKANA: The Rs1 billion endowment fund announced by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for HIV patients of Ratodero region have not been released despite lapse of a year, leaving the life of patients, particularly children, at stake, PPI learnt on Monday. He said Sindh Health Care Commission (SHCC), Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) was extensively working to curb the menace of the source of transmission through their developed systems. He said: “If HIV prevalence in the general population is more than 1 per cent, then it is considered a generalised epidemic. Dr Shah said that a rural community of about 400,000 population with more than 1,000 HIV positive children is a serious challenge not for the affected community but also for the whole province and the country as well. Dr Imran Akbar Arbani, who first broke the story of the presence of HIV positive children in Sindh, said that the children direly need inclusion in the federal government’s Ehsas Kifalat Programme and insurance policies which would not only improve their lives but also bring an end of stigma and discrimination which they face.

Source: Pakistan Today April 27, 2020 17:26 UTC