Doctor held over spread of HIV in Larkana

LARKANA: Police arrested a doctor suspected to be responsible for the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Larkana’s Ratodero district, Geo News reported on Tuesday.The doctor— an employee of a public hospital — is reportedly an HIV patient himself, police said, as they registered a case against him and produced him before alocal court.The number of HIV-positive cases rose to 39 as panic gripped the district and authorities tried to ascertain the causes behind the spread of the virus among the residents. Twenty-two children are among the patients diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes the deadly AIDS disease which claimed a million lives worldwide in 2016.Protesting the allegations against him, the doctor termed the case a “conspiracy” against him and said he was not aware of his condition. “The Sindh Healthcare Commission is conspiring against me. If I had known about [HIV/AIDS] I would have sought treatment. I did not experience any pain,” he said.Dr Sikander Memon, in-charge of the Aids Control Programme in Sindh, said a team will arrive in Ratodero next week to determine the causes behind the transmission of HIV among the residents.According to an estimate by Dr Memon, there are over 100,000 HIV-positive people in Sindh, however, the Aids Control Programme has only 10,350 registered patients who are provided treatment.

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