Four-month-old infant, mother diagnosed with HIV at Sessi’s Landhi hospital
Health officials in Sindh, Pakistan, have launched widespread HIV screening following the diagnosis of a four-month-old infant and their mother at a Sessi-run hospital. Authorities are investigating the source of infections and have identified multiple positive cases across several facilities.
Why it matters
The discovery of HIV cases in infants highlights critical gaps in healthcare safety and infection control protocols within regional public health institutions.
The commissioner of the Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (Sessi), Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro, has said HIV screening is currently being carried out at all hospitals operating under the institution with particular focus on outpatients, admitted patients and children.
He said a four-month-old infant brought to Sessi’s Landhi Hospital tested positive for HIV during routine screening in the outpatient department (OPD). Following the child’s diagnosis, the mother was also screened and tested positive for HIV. However, when hospital staff attempted to collect a blood sample from the child’s father for testing, he left the hospital without undergoing the examination.
Kalhoro said the Sindh health and labour departments were jointly conducting HIV screening not only at Sessi-run hospitals but also across all government hospitals in the province.
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