Community engagement following a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreak in rural Pakistan: challenges and lessons learned

Abstract

Introduction The lives of the residents of a small rural community in taluka Ratodero near the town of Larkana in Sindh province of Pakistan was rattled when an unprecedented human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreak was discovered in April 2019. The problem of HIV is not new to Larkana which has already experienced multiple outbreaks among key population at risk for HIV as well as among dialysis patients.(1-3) However, in Ratodero, a town of 150,000-200,000 persons which is 40 kilometres away from Larkana, no such event had occurred in the past. Continuous...