Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Karachi General Secretary Arslan Khalid on Saturday expressed deep concern over the spread of HIV/AIDS among children in Khairpur and Gambat, calling it a blatant failure of the provincial health department.
In a strong reaction, Khalid criticised Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, saying that while he lectures the world on public health, children are dying of AIDS in his own province. He also criticised Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and provincial Health Minister Azra Pechuho, claiming that their much-publicised “Sindh Speed” had rendered hospitals a dangerous place for innocent children.
The PTI leader alleged that the priority of the mafia in Sindh was not public health but the embezzlement of the health budget. Khalid asked the health minister under whose patronage unqualified staff at Gambat Hospital were allegedly transmitting HIV to children.
He said the presence of unauthorised personnel in hospitals was equivalent to playing with human lives. He added that the Sindh government spends billions on self-promotion and advertisements while failing to provide basic safety measures in healthcare facilities.
Khalid demanded an immediate and transparent judicial inquiry into the Gambat Hospital incident. He also called for justice for the family of the girl who died from the disease, as well as immediate world-class medical treatment for the affected children.
