Sindh struggles with HIV amid defunct commission and rising cases
By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: As the World AIDS Day approaches on December 1, Sindh faces a critical challenge in its fight against HIV/AIDS with the Sindh AIDS Commission (SAC) remaining inactive, despite the province reporting 5,444 new HIV cases in 2023 and 2024 i.e., a 22% increase over two years. The SAC’s inactivity is said to be a violation of the Sindh HIV/AIDS Control Treatment and Protection Act, 2013. A former government officer, who for long remained a key associate in the AIDS control functionary, said: “The obvious official neglect and apathy has turned the Commission into a dormant and forgotten organ and it was never allowed to enter its infancy”. He apprehended that the non-functioning of the SAC can be challenged in court of law by any NGO, lawyer or media person. Studies and interviews of the quarters concerned conducted by this reporter revealed that the much emphasised statutory body (SAC), which was installed much behind its stipulated schedule, was never taken s...