On April 14, the BBC Eye (related to the BBC World Service) issued a report and documentary titled “Stolen Lives: Who Gave Our Children HIV?” exposing malpractices in the children’s ward of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Taunsa, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, that took place in late 2024.

The exposé underscored an outbreak of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among children. Ironically, the Government of Punjab promised to take stern action against those responsible for malpractice, but the disease remained rampant, suggesting that the measures taken fell short of being effective. Unfortunately, this was a case of iatrogenic transmission, caused by mistakes of qualified medical practitioners. Months later, undercover investigators from BBC Eye secretly filmed malpractice by medical staff, putting children’s lives at risk. The main problem identified was in infection control, such as reusing a syringe for injections on multiple child patients, triggering an outbreak among children. The BBC also identified at least 331 children who tested HIV-positive between November 2024 and October 2025 in Taunsa. Spanning several months, the scale of the outbreak is staggering, sparking global concern over the performance of hospitals dealing with........

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