A hidden-camera investigation by BBC Eye has exposed a devastating healthcare failure at THQ Taunsa Hospital in Punjab, Pakistan, where at least 331 children contracted HIV between November 2024 and October 2025 due to the reuse of contaminated syringes. Journalists spent 32 hours undercover at the facility and filmed staff reusing syringes on multi-dose vials on 10 separate occasions, including drawing from contaminated vials for four different children.
Dr. Altaf Ahmed, a consultant microbiologist, explained that simply replacing the needle is insufficient—the syringe barrel itself can carry the virus. Of 97 HIV-positive children tested at Taunsa, only four had HIV-positive mothers, indicating that contaminated injections were the primary transmission route.
An earlier outbreak at a Karachi hospital added 84 more pediatric cases. The hospital superintendent was suspended in March 2025 but reinstated within three months. A joint inspection by the WHO and UNICEF in April 2025 had already identified unsafe practices, yet no corrective action was taken before the BBC investigation.
This marks Pakistan's second major HIV outbreak linked to medical malpractice; a 2019 cluster in Ratodero infected 1,500 people. The Taunsa tragedy underscores systemic failures in infection control and oversight.