Bloodborne HIV: Don't Get Stuck!

Beginning end-April 2019, government of Pakistan has been investigating an outbreak of HIV from unsafe health care in Ratodero county. As part of the investigation, government set up camps to test people for HIV. As of 23 May, tests on 20,800 people in Ratodero found >608 to be infected, including >500 children.[1] Almost all HIV-infected children had HIV-negative mothers. 

According to a recent report[2]: “Adviser to the Prime Minister for Health Dr. Zafar Mirza has said that outbreak of HIV in Ratodero has not only shaken the country but entire world adding when he was in Geneva he was also asked about surfacing of HIV… He said root cause of large number of children must be detected… He said federal government along with UNICEF, WHO, UNAID, Aga Khan, Aga Khan University Hospital and other organizations is cooperating with the Sindh government in this connection and they will continue to coordinate till root cause is detected, he added.”

In sub-Saharan Africa, children get HIV from unsafe healthcare, but no government has investigated to protect them

Lots of HIV-positive children with HIV-negative mothers are reported in Africa, but unlike Pakistan, no government has investigated. Nor have WHO or UNAIDS advocated any investigation. Here are some of the many reports of HIV-positive children in Africa with HIV-negative mothers:

* Mozambique, 2015: A random sample national survey found 30 HIV-positive children aged 6-23 months; 10 (33%) of the 30 children had mothers who were HIV-negative.[3]

* Uganda, 2011: A random sample national survey tested adults and children aged 0-5 years for HIV. Based on reports from this survey,[4] an estimated 17% (12 of 70) HIV positive children had mothers who tested HIV-negative (click on “outbreaks and unexpected infections” and then “Uganda” country page).

* Mozambique, 2009: A random sample national survey in 2009 tested children as well as adults for HIV. The study found 63 HIV-positive children aged 0-11 years old, of which 18 (29%) had mothers who tested HIV-negative.[5,6]

* Swaziland, 2006-7: A random sample national survey tested 1,665 mother-child pairs with children aged 2-12 years. Fifty children were infected; 11 (22%) of their mothers tested HIV-negative.[7,8]

WHO’s double standard

WHO’s double standard goes back decades. For example, during 1990-93, WHO’s Global Programme on AIDS coordinated studies in four African countries – Kigali, Rwanda; Kampala, Uganda; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Lusaka, Zambia – to test inpatient children and their mothers for HIV infection. Combining data from the four cities, 61 (1.1 percent) of 5,593 children aged 6-59 months were HIV-positive with HIV-negative mothers.[9] Only three children had been transfused. Although these infections suggested a lot of HIV transmission through unsafe healthcare, WHO, incredibly concluded ‘the risk of…patient-to-patient transmission of HIV among children in health care settings is low.’[10]

At least WHO in 2019 is acting to protect children in Pakistan from getting HIV from unsafe healthcare. Will this ongoing investigation lead WHO to change its long-standing policy of neglect in Africa?

References

1. Masood T. Situationer: dealing with HIV outbreak among children. Dawn 23 May 2019. Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/1483999 (accessed 24 May 2019).

2. Dawoodpoto J. “HIV in Ratodero has not only shaken the country but entire world.“ Daily Times 24 May 2019. Available at: https://dailytimes.com.pk/399789/hiv-in-ratodero-has-not-only-shaken-the-country-but-entire-world/ (accessed 24 May 2019).

3. page 231 in: Ministério da Saúde (MISAU), Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), e ICF, 2015. Inquérito de Indicadores de Imunização, Malária e HIV/SIDA em Moçambique 2015. Rockville, Maryland: ICF, 2018. Available at: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/AIS12/AIS12.pdf

4. Table 8.13 in: Uganda Ministry of Health, and ICF International. Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey (UAIS) 2011. Calverton: ICF International, 2012. Available at: https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-AIS10-AIS-Final-Reports.cfm(accessed 6 December 2018).

5. pp. 177-181 in: INS, INE, and ICF Macro. Inquérito Nacional de Prevalência, Riscos Comportamentais e Informação sobre o HIV e SIDA em Moçambique 2009. Calverton, Maryland: ICF Macro, 2010. Available at: http://measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/AIS8/AIS8.pdf (accessed 19 January 2012).

6. Brewer D. Scarification and male circumcision associated with HIV infection in Mozambican children and youth. Webmedcentral 2011, Article ID WMC002206. Available at: http://www.webmedcentral.com/article_view/2206(accessed 19 January 2012).

7. CSO, eSwatini, and Macro Int. Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07. Mbabane, Swaziland: CSO and Macro International, 2008. Available at:  https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR202/FR202.pdf (accessed 8 November 2018).

8. Okinyi M, Brewer DD, Potterat JJ. Horizontally acquired HIV infection in Kenyan and Swazi children. Int J STD AIDS 2009; 20: 852-857. Abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19948900(accessed 27 October 2018); article available at: http://www.interscientific.net/IJSA2009Okinyi.html (accessed 15 October 2018).

9. Hitimana D, Luo-Mutti C, Madraa B, et al. ‘A multicentre matched case control study of possible nosocomial HIV-1 transmission in infants and children in developing countries’, 9^thInt Conf AIDS, Berlin 6-11 June 1993. Abstract no. WS-C13-2.

10. Global Programme on AIDS. 1992-1993 Progress Report, Global Programme on AIDS. Geneva: WHO, 1993. p. 85.