The Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan (MMIDSP) has expressed concern regarding the news coverage of a press conference held on Saturday, May 2, regarding HIV cases in Pakistan.
According to the MMIDSP, the press conference was held by multiple doctor’s societies and led by the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) to highlight the growing increase in HIV cases, particularly among children, largely due to healthcare- associated infection.
The MMIDSP said the coverage by The News appeared to verge on sensationalism, with instances of misquoting and distortion of facts. For example phrases like ‘criminally hiding data’ had never been used by the experts at the press conference.
The story attributed a statement to Dr Samreen Sarfaraz, head of infectious diseases at the Indus Hospital, Karachi, and MMIDSP member, claiming that she described the government HIV program as a ‘total failure’, which she neither said nor intended, said the MMIDSP.
The reporter, M Waqar Bhatti, however, states that the phrase ‘criminally hiding HIV data’ was not attributed to Dr Samreen or the MMIDSP. It was used as a general reflection of remarks made by multiple participants, originally expressed in Urdu, and not as a direct quote.
The reporter, however, agrees that the specific sentence quoting HIV programmes as a ‘total failure’ was an oversight on his part and it was corrected in the online version of the story.
According to the reporter, no concerns or objections to the news story have been raised by the PIMA, which organised the event, nor by representatives of the Pakistan Paediatric Association or family physicians’ groups who were present.
The reporter asserts that the story was handled responsibly, and the only genuine concern was promptly addressed.
