Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has directed health authorities to make Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) screenings mandatory before surgical procedures involving skin piercing or incisions across Pakistan.
He issued the directive on Wednesday while chairing a meeting of the Joint Working Group on HIV/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) at the health ministry, where officials reviewed measures to prevent healthcare-associated transmission of the virus.
Kamal instructed health authorities in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to issue the required notifications to enforce HIV screening before such procedures.
Officials told the meeting that Sindh, Punjab and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) already conduct HIV screening before surgical procedures involving skin piercing. The minister called for a uniform screening standard to be implemented across the country.
Kamal also directed officials to focus on children living with HIV, saying their care should include nutritional, psychosocial and welfare support along with medical treatment.
He further ordered that provincial healthcare commissions be invited to the next meeting to assess Infection Prevention and Control practices.
The minister said that unsafe injections, gaps in infection-control measures and shortcomings in blood safety need to be addressed under the national framework.directed
