HIV outbreak in Pakistan: How deadly safety lapses at Sindh hospital put children at risk

The SHCC's regulatory inspection found that used needles were not being disposed of in sharps bins, hospital staff could not explain disposal of needles (Photo credit: ANI)At least 78 children have contracted HIV in an outbreak in Pakistan's Karachi linked to serious infection-control and medical waste management failures at a state-run hospital.Findings at the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI)-run Valika Hospital in Karachi's SITE area revealed needles manually removed from syringes, inadequate sterilisation safeguards and untrained staff handling contaminated waste.The Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC), which conducted a regulatory inspection of the state-run hospital, found that used needles were not being disposed of in sharps bins. That hospital staff could not expl