ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health, chaired by Mahesh Kumar Malani, expressed serious concerns over the federal health ministry’s report on Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Pakistan, highlighting discrepancies and underreporting of cases across the country.
During the meeting, Dr Shazia Tabassum criticised the report presented by the ministry, saying it failed to accurately reflect the scale of HIV/AIDS cases.
If this report were shared with international agencies, it would embarrass us. The number of HIV/AIDS patients nationwide is rising, yet hundreds of cases are missing from this report, she said.
Dr Shazia Tabassum noted that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mustafa Kamal said, however, that addressing a decade’s backlog of work could not be achieved in just ten months. He added that current estimates suggesting 300,000 HIV patients were based on assumptions.
Federal authorities stated that the Global Fund provides 25 percent of its resources to the government, with the remaining 75 percent allocated to NGOs.
They added that more cases are likely to emerge, noting that 90 percent of patients are deported for medical reasons. Screening of deported individuals will now be conducted at border health services.
Officials also raised concerns over unsafe practices, citing that in Sindh, HIV cases were reported among children due to the use of contaminated syringes.
The committee emphasised the need for accurate data collection and strengthened health monitoring to ensure proper treatment and preventive measures for HIV/AIDS across Pakistan.
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