SUNDAY TIMES ISLAMABAD: The panel has summoned a comprehensive report from the provincial health authorities about HIV/Aids cases which have surfaced of late across the province, especially in Ratodero.

The Senate panel on National Health Services will meet on May 28 at Parliament House to take up the issue.

It is noteworthy that the federal government had summoned a meeting on May 20 to take international health organizations into confidence over the outbreak of HIV/Aids in Ratodero in Sindh.

Sources relayed the government decided to consult the world health bodies and summoned a meeting with the international partners over the crisis situation in Ratodero in district Larkana.

Health officials say more than 400 people, many of them children, have tested HIV-positive in recent weeks as experts warn of a surge in infection rates across Pakistan due to the use of unsanitary equipment and rampant malpractice – often at the hands of quack doctors.

With about 20,000 new HIV infections reported in 2017 alone, Pakistan currently has the second-fastest growing HIV rates across Asia, according to the United Nations.