The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) constitutional bench has directed the Sindh government to submit a detailed report within two weeks regarding a severe HIV outbreak among children treated at the Kulsum Bai Valika Social Security SITE Hospital in Karachi. The court’s intervention follows a petition accusing the government-run hospital of gross negligence, specifically alleging that medical staff reused contaminated syringes on multiple children. The legal counsel for the petitioners highlighted that nine children have already died and hundreds have been infected, yet no meaningful administrative action or criminal cases (FIRs) have been registered in the eight months since the initial deaths. The bench adjourned the hearing until July 20, asserting that it will decide the matter strictly according to legal procedures once all official replies are submitted.
The urgency of the judicial oversight is underscored by the rapidly growing scale of the crisis, with a three-year-old girl from Orangi Town recently becoming the 107th child to test positive for the virus after undergoing treatment at the facility. Families have voiced intense anxiety over the systemic lapses, which have drawn deep concern from international organizations like UNICEF. The crisis has reached federal attention as well; the Federal Minister for National Health Services previously confirmed that the reuse of contaminated syringes at Valika Hospital caused the outbreak, leading the federal government to implement a nationwide ban on five specific types of syringes to prevent further transmission.
