In an undercover investigation, BBC Eye discovered an extensive trail of medical malpractice, institutional lack of accountability, and regulatory failure at the Tehsil Headquarter (THQ) Hospital in Taunsa, Punjab, Pakistan, a facility now linked to a major HIV outbreak among children.
The probe began after a local doctor raised concerns in 2024. Even though the local authorities promised a crackdown and suspended the hospital's medical superintendent in March 2025, the unsafe injection practices allegedly continued months later.
Here are some key facts about this investigation:
How did the investigation begin?
The investigation involved over 32 hours of undercover filming at the THQ Taunsa. This revealed syringes being reused on 10 separate occasions, which potentially contaminated the drug inside. Medicine from the same vials were given to different children, creating a higher risk of viral transmission.
How outbreak was traced
The first person to identify the outbreak in 2024 was Dr Gul Qaisrani, a doctor at a local private clinic. He noticed a significant rise in the number of children going through his clinic who tested positive for HIV. Almost all of the 65 to 70 children he diagnosed had been treated at THQ Taunsa, as reported by the BBC Eye investigation.
For your daily dose of medical news and updates, visit: HEALTH
Additionally, out of a sample of 97 children with HIV whose families were also tested, only four of their mothers tested positive. This suggests only a few of these cases were caused by mother-to-child transmission.
A similar pattern of outbreaks have been followed in Pakistan. A 2019 incident in Ratodero, Sindh province, Pakistan, noted 1,500 diagnosed cases of HIV in children. In almost 94% cases the parents tested negative, ruling out mother-to-child transmission and pointing directly at a widespread case of medical malpractice.
How can reused syringes spread HIV?
The footage from the investigation showed that the “needles” were changed in some cases, while the vial remained the same. Several studies, including one from CDC, show that when a plunger is released or pressure changes during an injection, microscopic amounts of blood might get drawn back into the barrel (the body) of the syringe. If this same syringe body is used to draw medicine from a multi-dose vial (MDV) for a different patient, the now contaminated “backflow” is introduced to the vial. This ends up infecting the entire batch of medicine for the subsequent patients. This has been explained by infectious disease experts in the BBC Eye investigation as well as backed by a 2024 research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Further, HIV can survive for several hours to days in a syringe, depending on the temperature and the amount of blood, making reused equipment a highly potent carrier for diseases.
Pakistan’s injection culture
Multiple studies and surveys have shown that Pakistan has one of the highest rates of therapeutic injections in the world. A 2025 research published in the Longdom Publishing, indicates that Pakistanis receive an average of 8.5 to 9.6 injections per person per year, making them among the highest globally. The study also suggests that between 70% and 99% of these injections are medically unnecessary, and could have been treated with oral medication.
Additionally, a systematic review (2025) from Trends in Pharmacology and Toxicology (TPT) found that syringe reuse rates in Pakistan range from 17% to 67%, with the highest prevalence in rural areas.
A study conducted by Aga Khan University in Karachi, revealed that 91% of patients reported the doctor was the one who recommended the injection, while only 9% explicitly asked for one. This suggests that doctors may be over-prescribing based on perceived patient demand. This also indicates that for many private and informal practitioners, unqualified dispensers, an injection is a way to justify a higher consultation fee.
Systematic ignorance and knowledge gap
The BBC Eye investigation states that when they confronted the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Qasim Buzdar at THQ Taunsa, the footage was dismissed as “staged.”
In contrast to the posters on the hospital walls displaying safe injection practices, the investigation found nurses and doctors injecting patients without sterile gloves almost 66 times. A nurse was also found rummaging through a medical waste disposal box without sterile gloves. This highlighted a larger weakness in infection control training in Pakistan. These practices prevail due to ignorance despite government interventions and reports from organizations like UNICEF and the WHO.
This investigation by BBC Eye shows us the reality that these children have to now live with: a lifetime of treatment, fear, and social stigma. This calls for not only stricter action on the law’s part but also the need for urgent reform in infection control, closing the knowledge gap among the public as well as healthcare providers, and eradicating the “quick fix” culture when it comes to the health and medical industry.
This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS