Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 103 posts

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#41

Post by abdullahkhalids »

ehsankia wrote: post #19
fouc wrote: post #5

>Health officials now say that Mr. Ghanghro is unlikely to be the sole cause of the outbreak. Visiting health workers saw many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Barbers take the same razor to the faces of multiple customers, they said, and roadside dentists crack away at patients’ teeth on sidewalks with unsterilized tools.

The paragraph before was far more perplexing to me. > The doctor recently renewed his medical certificate and now works as a general practitioner at a government hospital on the outskirts of Ratodero, despite laws that make the reuse of syringes an offense that is not eligible for bail. So he was arrested for it, then while still not convicted, got a new certificate and is back at it?

Unfortunately, he was probably able to bribe the local police/magistrate to grant him bail.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#42

Post by nitwit005 »

oefrha wrote: post #11
egtiller wrote: post #2

This news report makes my mind boggle. Reuse of syringes? In this century? The doctor says he was too poor to afford syringes! So reuse of syringes is the solution? Bill the cost of the syringe to the patient. Ask for donations. Do whatever it takes but never reuse a syringe. How can a doctor find reuse of syringes remotely acceptable?

The doctor says the parents of the patient were too poor to afford syringes; and the family was already starving in order to pay for the medicine. Wouldn’t it be nice if patients could afford anything. Reality doesn’t work that way though, and some first world people just can’t imagine what real poverty is like (I can’t either). > When Mr. Jalbani protested, he said, Mr. Ghanghro snapped at him and told him he was us…

They'll just end up even poorer if their kids get diseases through the syringes.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#44

Post by keithnoizu »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #41
ehsankia wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The paragraph before was far more perplexing to me. > The doctor recently renewed his medical certificate and now works as a general practitioner at a government hospital on the outskirts of Ratodero, despite laws that make the reuse of syringes an offense that is not eligible for bail. So he was arrested for it, then while still not convicted, got a new certificate and is back at it?

Unfortunately, he was probably able to bribe the local police/magistrate to grant him bail.

he should have used that bribe money to buy syringes. They aren't expensive.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#45

Post by DoreenMichele »

scarmig wrote: post #32
knzhou wrote: post #10

We will possibly end up with nearly 1000 children killed by a single man. A sobering reminder that our problems are, almost always, nothing in comparison.

Likely many more than 1000 children were infected. That said, hopefully the government of Pakistan is embarrassed enough to fund free treatment for this population. With treatment and compliance, HIV-positive people usually lead long, healthy lives.

I don't know if Pakistan really has the resources. Last I checked, they were a very young country in terms of average age of the citizens. Poverty is pretty widespread, from what I gather.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#46

Post by keithnoizu »

saagarjha wrote: post #9
Alex3917 wrote: post #4

I mean not exactly surprising. We literally just had a measles outbreak in Brooklyn last year. Vaccination rates are basically a prediction market on events like this happening.

Unfortunately, I doubt the children of Pakistan are getting a vaccine against HIV.

or propholaytics which do actually exist.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#47

Post by cbhl »

egtiller wrote: post #2

This news report makes my mind boggle. Reuse of syringes? In this century? The doctor says he was too poor to afford syringes! So reuse of syringes is the solution? Bill the cost of the syringe to the patient. Ask for donations. Do whatever it takes but never reuse a syringe. How can a doctor find reuse of syringes remotely acceptable?

Article also says that the doctor charged 20 cents (presumably US cents) to treat a patient.

Compare that with $300 USD to see my GP for fifteen minutes...

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#48

Post by tomc1985 »

oefrha wrote: post #25
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still for the life of me can't understand how anyone with any medical training at all could reuse a syringe. Some other shortcuts I could imagine, but reusing a syringe is like eventually guaranteeing this kind of outbreak.

Between this and no treatment, the choice is easy for most people. Although I do find “rummaging through the trash” for syringes astonishing. If you’re gonna reuse it, at least sterilize it (failing that, rinse it) and store it somewhere clean?

This is what I've never understood about the "you don't know poverty" argument... sure they may not have equipment but there are basic best practices that cost little more than time

Perhaps there are more people that would prefer to watch the world burn than we think

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#50

Post by ars »

scarmig wrote: post #29

What's (not) shocking is how stigmatized the HIV-positive population is. Authorities are literally segregating the HIV-positive children into a different side of the room from the rest. An obvious effect of this is that people will be terrified to get tested at all, as it's all downside with the possible upside of treatment being a distant dream. And that makes it both harder to evaluate the spread of the disease, an…

Quarantining infected people who have an incurable disease is not really that illogical when you have no medication capable of treating them.

Can you imagine if the US had done mandatory testing and quarantine all those years ago? Obviously many people would have had their rights violated to do that, but it might have stopped the disease a long time ago.

Voluntary self-quarantine clearly doesn't work.

> will be terrified to get tested at all

Or the opposite: Anyone not tested will be assumed to be infected.

> And that makes it both harder to evaluate the spread of the disease, and also harder to prevent further transmission of it.

Not if you have mandatory testing.

Post reply on HN