RATODERO:The fate of unfortunate HIV infected children of Ratodero has not changed as the same conditions still prevail which caused them dreadful virus and put their innocent lives at stake despite passage of three long years.
This was stated for Dr. Imran Akbar Arbani who at the very outset broke the story of presence of HIV among the children three years ago. He said that no serious steps have been taken to stop the source of the disease which include checking of clinics/medical centres of health care providers, use of syringes for treatment has to be discouraged in the community and oral form of treatment has to be focused in clinics/hospitals, checking and training of barbers about infection prevention methods to be followed in society, to make sure the availability of auto lock / luer lock syringes at all medical stores including private clinics and government sector hospitals, training of goldsmiths about nose / ear piercing with new sterilized needles for each customer, use of new sterilized needle for skin tattooing in public gatherings like mellaas (religious rituals), screening of transgenders especially and giving them a certificate of clearance of HIV infection, then every 6 months screening of each community sex worker/transgender, laboratories which are functioning here, are not authorised runned without pathologist, how it is possible to have a safe blood transfusion through these rough laboratories as It’s mandatory to do screening of each blood donor for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, VDRL and MP to have safe transfusion, anti quakery actions have to be followed strictly by Sindh Health Care Commission because quacks have hired the name boards of MBBS doctors (those MBBS doctors are not able to run clinic by theirselves), PWIDs (People who Inject drugs) / IV drug abusers have to be treated properly to make them a good part of society, many of boy babies having HIV are not circumcised (here its trend to do circumcission ceremony of many babies on same time in single joint family), if these HIV babies are circumcised in same way by layman people they will spread this disease to other normal babies, so its mandatory to do their circumcission under strict protocols at Ratodero Treatment Center, dental problems treatment should be done by qualified Dentist (here layman and quack dentists are doing very ill treatment and they are also a big source of this Lethal HIV disease).
To stop sources we have to make society aware and well about the main sources and by giving them accurate knowledge of actual sources, we can decrease the false / negative theories of society about HIV spread, he said.
Dr. Arbani said that the screening of the whole Ratodero population is very much necessary to know the level/gravity of HIV infection. After knowing the numbers we will make policies to stop/to know further increase in the number of new cases. He said that from 25 April 2019 to April 2022, about 45,996 people have been screened out of which 1999 cases have emerged and 80% among them are children. About 116 HIV positive people have died after the outbreak, he disclosed.
Dr. Imran said that treatment protocols should be followed as in the rest of the world, means before treatment HIV viral load is assessed and CD-4 count is also monitored and after taking 3-4 months treatment duration again these tests are done to see the effectiveness of treatment. Only ARV treatment is not enough for these patients, they also need a shield of antifungal and antibacterial medicines to combat the co-morbidities and along with treatment their nutritional status has to be monitored.
Dr Imran said that in follow-up patients comorbidities are checked, patients routine and special reports are done to see the compliance of patients towards treatment and patients response to ARV drugs being given and in follow-up it is monitored how is general health of patients, either they are improving or getting worse. In followup doctors can ask the stigma and discrimination about HIV, either these patients are being accepted in society or not, what help do they need in terms of treatment/social/psychological/moral terms.
If they are not treated well by their joint families or by their intimate relationships, positive people might be helped by anti-discriminatory law. Here in Ratodero ARV treatment center, one helpline is to be followed by each HIV case, as these 1999 cases have 1999 different types of stories within their homes. He said he feels very sorry to share this information that about 160 patients haven’t come for followup for many months, they all are devoid of medicines, so they all will be a source for new cases, what a tragic situation.
Dr. Arbani said that these patients are part of our community, if they are rehabilitated in terms of social, psychological and monitoring terms they can live their lives with quality. They need love, affection, care and support. As these babies get old till that time their policies will mature also. It’s requested that higher authorities of the government help these poor people (especially children by giving them insurance policies, to make their future secure).
The Sindh government has given BISP (Benazir income support programme) to help the poor then why not these poverty-stricken HIV-ridden families, Dr. Imran added. He said last week 8 members of a Banguldero family were detected positive along with four more of a Ratodero family which is a vivid proof of the existence of HIV positive cases in and around Ratodero. These all efforts can be done by the government only, we as a community mobilizer can help the government in implementing these policies.