LAHORE: A major outbreak of HIV, predominantly among children, has occurred in Taunsa, a Tehsil of Dera Ghazi Khan, due to unchecked practices of unsafe paediatric blood transfusion and excessive use of injections.
The findings of two reports in April and August this year in the area revealed nearly 300 cases of HIV positive, predominantly among children between the ages of 1 and 10 years, since December 2024. Simulating the 2019 HIV outbreak in Ratodero, Sindh, the emergence of a paediatric HIV cluster in Taunsa raises significant public health concerns, indicating serious lapses in identification, surveillance and timely interventions by the district and provincial health machinery, Punjab Blood Transfusion Authority (PBTA), Punjab AIDS Control Program (PACP) and Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC).
The Joint Mission Report on the Paediatric HIV Surge in Taunsa, DG Khan, confirmed that a total of 127 children under 12 years of age were diagnosed with HIV, raising the tally to 231 in the area between December 2024 and April 2025. Based on the line list, 79% of the confirmed HIV-positive individuals are under the age of five. The average age is approximately 4.5 years, and the median is just 3 years, underscoring a heavy burden on infants and young children. This early age pattern rules out behavioural transmission and further points towards systemic, non-sexual horizontal transmission due to unsafe medical practices.
The Punjab AIDS Control Program’s (PACP) findings in August 2025 confirmed another 125 HIV positive cases among children in the Tehsil. In a massive 48,000 household screening campaign, the PACP identified 150 HIV suspected cases out of which 125 cases were confirmed of HIV carriers. A total of 66 new cases were confirmed, 59 were already under treatment. As many as 23 suspected cases were declared HIV negative. Therefore, in addition to already confirmed cases of 231, another 66 new cases increased the total number of cases to 297.
A research article published in the International Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health Research, in April this year, has declared that over 150 children aged between 6 months and 10 years in Taunsa have tested HIV positive. It also suggests no history of familial HIV transmission among children rather indicates iatrogenic transmission, likely through unsafe injection or medical practices, due to a common thread of a medical treatment and vaccination history at Taunsa’s Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital. The PACP findings identified major lapse on part of family physicians or paediatricians, primarily in the private sector, who overwhelmingly prescribed blood transfusion to anemic children. During the PACP screening campaign, it was revealed that the majority of children were anemic due to malnourished mothers. Instead of addressing the issue of malnourishment among mothers, the doctors advised blood transfusion, which was being taken place at Rural Health Centres (RHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs) in Taunsa.
Besides, it was further revealed that quackery was rampant in Taunsa, which has significantly increased injection-patient ratio. Shockingly, the unscreened blood bags – likely infected by HIV – were easily available at pharmacies which not just pointed towards an organized money-minting network but also a serious oversight to this criminal practice by the local administration and health authorities. The PACP also identified that the HIV-infected expatriates, who were deported by their host countries, were found involved in men having sex with men (MSM) activities. The victims and Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) used to donate/sell blood, which ended in pharmacies.
Earlier, the PACP’s data of Punjab’s prisons revealed that at least 645 jail inmates have been infected with HIV in 43 jails. The highest number of cases has been reported in the Adiala Jail (Central Jail Rawalpindi), where 148 inmates have tested positive for HIV. This is the same prison where Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is currently incarcerated.
According to official figures, as many as 83 jail inmates have been diagnosed with HIV in District Jail Lahore, 37 in Central Jail Faisalabad, 29 in District Jail Kasur, 27 each in Central Jail Lahore and Central Jail Gujranwala, and 24 in District Jail Faisalabad have tested HIV positive. In the remaining 36 prisons across Punjab, the combined number of HIV cases stands at 270. It is worth-mentioning that, previously, a mega scandal of HIV transmission among dialysis patients was reported in Multan, which highlighted poor regulatory and infection control measures on part of government institutions. When contacted, PACP Project Director Dr Sumaira Ashraf said the PACP was taking appropriate steps to stop further transmission and treatment of the HIV-positive patients in the area.
