Amid rising cases of HIV in Pakistan, leading public health experts have urged the government to launch the country’s first nationwide HIV prevalence survey, warning that the virus has spread beyond high-risk groups.
Renowned physician Prof Javed Akram said HIV had been spreading silently for decades, adding that increased testing had merely exposed more existing cases.
He stressed that a nationwide prevalence survey was essential to identify infected individuals and expand access to treatment.
Health Services Academy Vice Chancellor Prof Shahzad Ali Khan described the situation as a public health emergency, citing the diagnosis of 729 HIV-positive children in Sindh during the first six months of 2026.
He attributed the rising infections among children to unsafe medical practices, including the reuse of syringes, IV sets and poorly screened blood transfusions, and called for mass screening, contact tracing and epidemiological investigations.
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Official data recorded 14,182 new HIV cases in 2025 and over 8,000 infections during the first half of 2026.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr Faisal Mahmood also urged stricter regulation of private healthcare facilities and expanded targeted HIV screening, particularly among children, to curb further transmission.
