Hundreds Of Kids Infected With HIV From Syringe Reuse At Pakistan Hospital

[RAMROD 117,089]

 

Mohammed Amin was eight when he died shortly after testing positive for HIV.

His fevers were so bad that he insisted on sleeping in the rain, and he writhed in pain "like he'd been thrown in hot oil", says his mother, Sughra.

"He used to fight with me, but he also loved me," 10-year-old Asma says as she kneels at her younger brother's graveside.

Not long after her brother contracted the virus, Asma was also diagnosed with HIV. Her family believe both children contracted it from injections with contaminated needles during routine medical treatment at a government hospital in Taunsa, in the province of Punjab, Pakistan.

They are two of the 331 children that BBC Eye has identified as testing positive for HIV in the city between November 2024 and October 2025.

After a doctor at a private clinic linked the outbreak to the hospital, called THQ Taunsa, in late 2024, local authorities promised a "massive crackdown" and suspended the hospital's medical superintendent in March 2025 – but a BBC Eye investigation can now reveal that dangerous injection practices continued months later.

During 32 hours of undercover filming at THQ Taunsa in late 2025, we witnessed syringes being reused on multi-dose vials of medicine on 10 separate occasions, potentially contaminating the drugs inside.

In four of these cases we saw medicine from the same vial given to a different child. We do not know if any of the children were HIV-positive but this practice creates a clear risk of viral transmission.

"Even if they have attached a new needle, the back part, which we call the syringe body, has the virus in it, so it will transfer even with a new needle," said Dr Altaf Ahmed, a consultant microbiologist and one of Pakistan's leading infectious disease experts, after watching our undercover footage.

Despite signs on the hospital walls showing safe injection practice we filmed staff – including a doctor – injecting patients without sterile gloves 66 times, and a different expert told us our footage highlighted broader weaknesses in infection control training in Pakistan.

We also watched a nurse rummage through a medical waste disposal box without sterile gloves. "She is violating every principle of injecting medicine," said Ahmed.

But when we showed our footage to the hospital's new medical superintendent, Dr Qasim Buzdar, he refused to acknowledge it was genuine. He claimed it could have been recorded before he took over or that "this footage could also be staged", and insisted his hospital was safe for children.

Our footage from November and December 2025, filmed over several weeks, captured syringes and vials frequently left open alongside discarded needles on countertops that should be kept sterile.

Most children we saw being treated at THQ Taunsa were given injections via a cannula – a tube inserted into a vein – which further increases the risk of infection. By entering directly into the bloodstream, contaminated medicine can bypass the body's natural defences.

We also filmed one nurse pull a used syringe from under a counter with liquid for the last patient still inside. Rather than discarding it she hands it to her colleague, apparently ready to be reused on another child.

 

A shortage of medicines and supplies also fuels unsafe practices. The demand for injections can put a strain on resources, which are allocated in government hospitals through quota systems overseen by their superintendents. "They have a set number of supplies and are told they must make them last for the whole month," Mir says. "Are they seeing where corner-cutting is dangerous? And where the money should be spent?"

During our undercover filming we found that supplies were often missing on the wards, and that patients who could afford liquid paracetamol were told to bring their own. "They make us account for every little bit of medicine," one nurse said.

The practices documented in THQ Taunsa mirror those in previous outbreaks elsewhere in Pakistan.

In 2019, hundreds of children in the town of Ratodero, in Sindh province, tested positive for HIV, most of them with parents who tested negative. Local paediatrician Dr Imran Arbani told the BBC that he found repeated clinic visits and multiple injections in their medical histories, "so it must have been transmitted in one or other of these medical settings". By 2021 the number of HIV-positive local children had risen to 1,500 – and even now, new infections are still occurring.

While we were filming in Taunsa a cluster of cases was reported in Karachi. In the SITE Town area, children treated at a local government hospital, Kulsoom Bai Valika Hospital, were later testing positive for HIV.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrd818gd2o

[Morphine Prince 109,682]

So unbelievably negligent and disgusting. 

As someone who works in a hospital I can’t imagine this level of incompetence. 

I don’t work directly with patients but work with patient specimen and the amount of regulations and quality control and safety measures we take are very high. 

Even more so directly treating patients.. 

[Economy 52,860]

"A shortage of medicines and supplies also fuels unsafe practices. The demand for injections can put a strain on resources, which are allocated in government hospitals through quota systems overseen by their superintendents. "They have a set number of supplies and are told they must make them last for the whole month," Mir says. "Are they seeing where corner-cutting is dangerous? And where the money should be spent?"

 

What did they expect would happen?

[Economy 52,860]

2 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

So unbelievably negligent and disgusting. 

As someone who works in a hospital I can’t imagine this level of incompetence. 

I don’t work directly with patients but work with patient specimen and the amount of regulations and quality control and safety measures we take are very high. 

Even more so directly treating patients.. 

Yeah, i dont think its just incompetence. I noticed a paragraph where they were given set resources per month and supplies and had to make them last. Of course this was going to fuel willfully cutting corners

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,974]

This just feels malicious. 

[vmpiregrn 1,233]

Even disregarding the cleanliness, reusing needles *hurts* more than using a fresh one. Poor babies were probably scared enough of the pain and this made it worse.

[weed 78,959]

Sooooo horrible and evil omg... praying for their health

[Hadrian 2,636]

I saw this the other day, what the **** is wrong with these people running hospitals? You can't just tell people to make supplies last; YOU CAN'T REUSE THINGS LIKE THIS.

[InTheCloset 21,794]

i hate my country so much. i hope all the hospitals and their staff get jail for life

[waterfall 943]

disguisting 

i dont get why the government couldnt just manage the money distribution better and give the hospitals more money for supplies. its not cool to play w a kids life like that. 

[bowlsofbrett 611]

4 hours ago, Vimo said:

 

 

 

Edited April 15 by bowlsofbrett
Wrong forum

[RAMROD 117,089]

7 minutes ago, bowlsofbrett said:

It peaked at #7.

I really just want the album to be good. I don’t think anyone should underestimate Madonna. She’s been discarded several times throughout her career and has managed to claw her way back with hit songs. She’s already accomplished so much. Not many artists can have a top ten song 30 years into their career (Give Me All Ur Luvin’). I’m glad she’s back with Warners because those albums under the Live Nation/Interscope deal were underwhelming. Hopefully Warners is getting her back to basics and putting her with the right people. We shall see. 
 

 

[bowlsofbrett 611]

1 hour ago, RAMROD said:

Diva, idk how this got posted in this thread! Haha! Has anyone else been experiencing site issues here?