BBC Eye Investigation Finds Dangerous Practices Persist at Taunsa Hospital Months After HIV Outbreak

Lead

An investigation by BBC Eye has found that dangerous injection practices continued at a government hospital in Taunsa, Pakistan, months after the facility was linked to an outbreak of HIV among children. Undercover footage filmed at Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital shows syringes being reused on multiple children, injections administered through clothing, and unqualified volunteers treating children with contaminated vials, according to reports from the BBC and Dawn.

At least 331 children tested positive for HIV in Taunsa between November 2024 and October 2025, as reported by the BBC and multiple Dawn articles. The outbreak was first reported in late 2024, when a doctor at a private clinic linked the cases to the hospital. Local authorities promised a "massive crackdown" and suspended the hospital's medical superintendent in March 2025.

Coverage Comparison

The BBC's investigation, which included 32 hours of undercover filming in late 2025, documented repeated breaches of basic infection control. According to the BBC, the footage shows "nurses injecting patients through their clothes, handing over dirty syringes for re-use, and unqualified volunteers injecting child after child from a blood-contaminated vial of liquid medicine." The broadcaster also reported that staff handled medical waste with bare hands, left syringes and needles exposed, and allowed unqualified volunteers who were officially banned from the children's ward to operate without supervision.

Dawn, in its reporting on the investigation, echoed these findings, noting that undercover footage showed "nurses injecting patients through their clothes, handing over dirty syringes for re-use, and unqualified volunteers injecting child after child from a blood-contaminated vial of liquid medicine." Both the BBC and Dawn reported that Punjab authorities had promised a crackdown but that the investigation found children's lives were still being put at risk months later.

A Dawn editorial added that infections continued even after official intervention, and noted that fewer than one in 20 parents tested positive, pointing to transmission within healthcare settings. The editorial also reported that some children had died and that others faced a future defined by a preventable infection.

Key Claims

• 331 children tested positive for HIV in Taunsa between November 2024 and October 2025 — as reported by the BBC and Dawn.
• Undercover footage shows repeated malpractices at THQ Taunsa — including syringe reuse, injections through clothing, and unqualified volunteers using contaminated vials, as reported by the BBC and Dawn.
• Infections continued even after official intervention in March 2025 — as reported by Dawn, citing the BBC investigation.
• Fewer than one in 20 parents tested positive — as reported by Dawn, indicating transmission within healthcare settings.
• Reuse of contaminated syringes and needles is a major contributor to the spread of HIV — as highlighted by Dr Zafar Mirza, former special assistant to the prime minister on health, in a Dawn report.
• 618 new HIV cases were reported in Islamabad between January 2025 and March 2026 — as reported by Dawn.
• The health ministry has tasked the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and the Common Management Unit (CMU) with devising a mechanism to prevent HIV transmission, particularly through the reuse of syringes — as reported by Dawn.

Perspectives

Government of Punjab

The Punjab government has cited screenings, treatment centres, auto-disable syringes, and action against quack clinics as its response to the outbreak. However, according to Dawn, the government has questioned the investigation and maintained that no conclusive link to the hospital has been established.

Health Experts and Officials

Dr Zafar Mirza, former special assistant to the prime minister on health, has warned that Pakistan is "sitting on a generalised epidemic of AIDS," citing estimates by UNAIDS that point to Pakistan as the country with the fastest-growing number of AIDS cases in Asia. A senior health ministry official, speaking anonymously, said authorities had been informed that a Global Fund team is expected to visit Pakistan soon to review the situation. Another official alleged that disease control programmes had been mishandled for about a decade.