WHO team arrives Pakistan to investigate HIV outbreak

 KARACHI (92 News) – A delegation of World Health Organization (WHO) has arrived in Karachi on Tuesday to investigate the areas affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) outbreak. Director General Health Sindh Dr Masood Solangi received the three-member team of WHO at Karachi airport today. The WHO experts will stay in Karachi today. They will meet the officials of the health department and other concerned departments. The world health body’s team will visit Larkana, Ratodero and surrounding areas to inspect the HIV Aids situation. Health Minister of Sindh, Dr Azra Pechuho, secretary health and other health department officials will also be accompanied with the WHO team. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) accepted a request from Pakistan for assistance in the ongoing HIV crisis in Larkana, Sindh.

According to the details garnered, Pakistan had sought help from the WHO in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemic. The WHO has decided to send a team of experts to Pakistan and also provide HIV diagnostic kits to the country.

A 10-member team of WHO experts will land in Karachi on May 28. Special Assistant to Prime Minister for National Health Dr Zafar Mirza had written a letter to the WHO and requested for immediately sending a team of experts to Pakistan to visit the areas affected by the HIV epidemic. Pakistan had also requested the world health body to provide diagnostic kits for HIV Aids. The prime minister’s aide in his letter asked the WHO to immediately provide 50,000 HIV diagnostic kits for the crisis areas adding that the HIV cases have reached to epidemic level in Larkana district. “Around 500 infected patients are children between two years to 15 years of age,” the letter to WHO said. The federal government has been in contact with the government of Sindh over the HIV crisis, the letter added. Recently Dr Zafar Mirza visited Sukkur and Larkana districts to review the situation in the crisis areas of the region. Dr Mirza also held a meeting with Sindh’s Minister of Health Dr Azra Pechuho during his visit and discussed the situation related to the HIV outbreak and government’s measures to address it.