HIV screening made mandatory before surgeries

Pakistan's Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has ordered mandatory HIV screening for all surgical procedures that involve skin piercing or incisions across the country. The directive, issued on Wednesday, aims to curb the transmission of the virus within healthcare settings and establish a unified standard of care nationwide.

“

Health minister calls for special attention to children living with virus

Health officials have been instructed to formalize and issue notifications enforcing pre-surgical HIV screening in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Sindh, Punjab, and the Islamabad Capital Territory have already implemented similar screening protocols. Minister Kamal stressed the critical need for consistency across all regions to effectively combat healthcare-associated transmission.

Beyond surgical procedures, the minister also called for enhanced attention to children living with HIV. He emphasized that care for these children must extend beyond clinical treatment to include nutritional, psychosocial, and welfare support. This holistic approach aims to improve their overall quality of life and treatment outcomes.

“

care for affected children must incorporate nutritional, psychosocial, and welfare support alongside clinical treatment to improve overall quality of life and treatment outcomes.

Furthermore, Kamal directed that provincial healthcare commissions be involved in future meetings to assess Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices. He highlighted the urgency of addressing issues such as unsafe injections, weak infection-control protocols, and blood safety gaps within the national health framework.

“

unsafe injections, weak infection-control protocols, and blood safety gaps must be resolved within the national framework.