Sindh turned into ‘Aidstan’: Rasheed slams Zardari over HIV outbreak

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Friday took a swipe at former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari over recent HIV outbreak in Sindh.

Speaking to the media, he asked the former president to look towards Larkana saying he has turned the province, where his party is in power, into “Aidstan.”

“Had these cases emerged in Ethiopia, Somalia and Congo, [rulers in these countries] would have kicked the bucket,” he said.

The minister said the politicians who remained involved in the plunder of public funds proudly said they faced 36 cases. He questioned why they were being released from jail on bail.

It is noteworthy that more than 500 people, many of them children, have tested HIV positive in recent weeks in Larkana alone.

Earlier, on May 15, Dr. Sikandar Memon, head of the Sindh AIDS contol programme revealed that, 13876 individuals have been screened thus far in the city of Rato Dero.

Out of the 507 diagnosed with the virus, 410 are children and 97 adults, revealed the Sindh AIDS control programme official.

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.