[ti:Pakistan Town Struggles with Rise in HIV Infections] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:05.08]A town in Pakistan is struggling to deal with patients infected with HIV, [00:13.68]the virus that can lead to Acquired [00:16.56]Immunodeficiency Syndrome, known as AIDS. [00:21.92]Nearly 700 HIV cases have been reported [00:26.64]in the town of Ratodero, in Sindh Province, since April. [00:32.71]Most of the patients are children. [00:36.92]"For me it was impossible to imagine," said Nazeer, [00:41.84]recalling the day a doctor said his 16 month-old girl [00:46.49]had tested positive for HIV. [00:50.76]"I told him ‘are you joking with me, how can she have HIV?,'" he said. [00:57.89]Nazeer spoke with the Reuters news agency from his home in Ratodero, [01:04.12]about 500 kilometers from Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. [01:11.40]His daughter is receiving treatment, he said, [01:14.64]adding he did not know how she was infected. [01:19.24]Health officials say 681 people have tested positive for HIV [01:26.08]in the town since April 25. [01:30.20]Of that number, 537 are children. [01:35.36]Thousands of people have taken an HIV test [01:39.64]at Ratodero's only testing center in a government hospital. [01:46.16]Others have been tested at private medical centers. [01:50.84]About 60% of Ratodero patients were infected [01:55.35]by reused medical instruments, such as needles and syringes, [02:02.00]or through donated blood, says Doctor Sikander Memon. [02:07.40]He is head of the province's AIDS control program. [02:12.80]Police and doctors carried out an investigation. [02:16.80]They found that 123 HIV patients [02:21.24]had been treated by the same doctor before they were infected. [02:26.56]Dr. Muzaffar Ghanghro was arrested on April 30 [02:31.36]and has been charged with unintentional murder, police said. [02:36.60]Reuters was not permitted to contact Ghangro in jail [02:42.12]and was not able to contact his lawyer. ‘ [02:46.36]Pakistan has about 163,000 HIV and AIDS patients, [02:53.64]said Zafar Mirza, a health adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan. [03:00.80]At Pakistan's request, the World Health Organization [03:05.00]and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [03:10.16]have sent experts to the area. [03:13.00]Pakistan's government has ordered 50,000 HIV testing kits [03:19.48]and is setting up three treatment centers. [03:24.28]Adult patients are receiving anti-retroviral drugs, [03:29.36]and medicines have been ordered for children, Mirza said. [03:34.96]The Ratodero cases are evidence of the current state [03:38.92]of healthcare in Pakistan, a nation of 208 million people. [03:45.88]Almost a third of the population lives on less than $3.20 a day. [03:52.92]Many Pakistanis cannot pay for costly medical tests or drugs. [03:59.32]Few families can pay for proper treatment of HIV, [04:03.48]which usually involves trips to Karachi. [04:07.48]"I have sold all my valuables for treatment. [04:11.00]Now I can't afford to go Karachi [04:14.08]for my children's medicines every month," [04:17.04]said Tariq, who lives in a village near Ratodero. [04:22.48]Tariq, his wife and daughter are HIV positive, [04:27.40]and a relative tested positive this month. [04:31.20]He does not know how they became infected. [04:35.00]"There are 16 HIV cases in our village alone. [04:39.52]No one has come to see our plight," he said. [04:43.00]I'm Jill Robbins. [04:47.28]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM