708 HIV positive cases registered at Larkana hospital so far, out of which 307 emerged in 2014
As many as 708 HIV positive cases have so far been registered at the HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care Centre of the Central Laboratory of Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana while three new cases surfaced on Monday as the world celebrated World AIDS Day.
Out of these cases, 431 were reported from Larkana, 109 from Kambar-Shahdadkot, 52 from Dadu, 23 from Sukkur, 9 from Kandhkot at Kashmore, eight from Ghotki, 11 from Shikarpur, four from Jamshoro, three from Jaffarabad, 10 from Jacobabad, four from Kalat (Balochistan) and 41 from Mirpur Khaas.
Out of the 383 patients on HART (Highly Active Retroviral Therapy), 307 are male, 72 female, four have refused compliance to the therapy whereas 44 have so far expired.
The facility to conduct CD-4 Count test has also been made available at the centre after media reports of its non-availability which had created problems for patients.
It must be noted that Larkana has been notified as the second largest district in Sindh with regards to the number of HIV cases reported.
Male, female and eunuch sex workers and intravenous drug users are rampant across the district but have reportedly never been screened or checked by the administration.
The number of HIV positive patients is expected to rise if authorities conduct screening. Sources say that medicines, primary medicines, investigators, counselling, care and support facilities are available at the HIV centre in Larkana but “it needs to be strengthened further as so far HIV/AIDS centre Karachi has not posted regular staff at the centre in Larkana”.
They added that there is only one doctor at the CMCH AIDS centre with almost no subordinate staff. They further added that in 2013, the number of registered patients was 401, which means in one year, 307 patients have surfaced which shows the gravity of the problem.