At least 130 people, most of them children, have tested HIV-positive in connection with an outbreak at a government-run hospital in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, with officials adding that the number has risen sharply in recent weeks.

Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said earlier this week that more than 10,500 people were screened in and around Kulsum Bai Valika (KBV) Hospital, a Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (SESSI) run facility, where 120 tested positive.

A separate screening drive at another SESSI facility in Karachi’s Landhi area identified 10 additional cases.

SESSI is an autonomous provincial organisation that provides healthcare, medical facilities and financial assistance to industrial and commercial workers and their dependants across Sindh.

The crisis at KBV Hospital first came to public attention in November 2025, when residents of Karachi’s SITE Town noticed a cluster of infections among children treated there.