The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Regulations and Coordination has directed the Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC) to submit a detailed report on its inspection of Valika Hospital, following the detection of more than 100 HIV cases linked to the facility.
The committee also directed Sindh authorities to determine, based on the inspection findings, whether the hospital should be granted a licence, which it has not yet obtained.
The directives were issued during a meeting of the Senate committee chaired by Senator Aamir Aliuddin Chishti at a local hotel. Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal, Sindh Minister for Labour, Human Resources and Social Protection Saeed Ghani, Senators Masroor Ahsan, Anusha Rahman, Samina Mumtaz and Nadeem Ahmed Bhutto, along with senior officials, attended the meeting.
Senator Chishti told Dawn that the SHCC had completed its inspection of Valika Hospital following the reported HIV cases. The committee has now asked the commission to submit details of discrepancies identified during the inspection and directed the relevant authorities to assess whether the facility meets the requirements for licensing.
He noted that several hospitals, including some government-run facilities, were operating without SHCC licences, with Valika Hospital among them.
Meanwhile, Sindh Minister Saeed Ghani informed the committee that HIV screening was being conducted at all hospitals operating under the Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (SESSI) in collaboration with the Health Department’s Communicable Disease Control (CDC) programme.
He said final show-cause notices had been issued to 37 doctors, paramedics and other officials following recommendations from inquiry committees investigating HIV cases at SESSI’s Valika Hospital.
Mr Ghani said those found responsible for criminal negligence would face departmental action as well as possible criminal cases through the registration of FIRs.
According to the minister, the Health Department’s CDC wing launched an extensive screening programme at Valika Hospital and surrounding areas soon after the HIV cases were reported. More than 10,500 people have so far been screened, with 120 testing positive for HIV.
Of the affected individuals, 81 were children of registered SESSI employees, while the remaining 39 had no affiliation with registered employees. The Sindh government, however, has assumed responsibility for the treatment and care of all 120 affected children, according to a statement issued after the meeting.
The screening programme was later extended to Landhi Hospital despite no HIV cases having been reported there. More than 7,500 patients, visitors and residents of surrounding areas have been screened, with 21 people testing positive for HIV.
Mr Ghani said the individuals who tested positive had no previous treatment history at the hospital, while investigations had identified external factors in some cases.
Responding to questions from committee members, the minister said he had assumed full ministerial responsibility for addressing the situation. He said a committee comprising leading medical specialists and hospitals was being established to oversee advanced treatment for the affected children.
SESSI has also established a Rs2 billion endowment fund to support the affected families, he said.
Mr Ghani said an independent oversight committee comprising prominent figures from across the province would supervise the fund to ensure transparency. He also assured the Senate committee that no person found responsible for the incident would be given any leniency.
