When hospitals become HIV vectors

Whether for a minor injury or a life-saving procedure, hospitals are where sick people rush to in the hopes of getting better. However, when proper infection control protocols are not followed, a patient walking in for a simple blood test might leave the hospital unknowingly carrying HIV-AIDS. Professor Dr Faisal Mahmood, an infectious disease specialist at Pakistan’s Aga Khan University Hospital, emphasised the urgent need to implement infection control protocols at hospitals and clinics. “Patients can be carriers and hospitals must treat every patient as potentially infectious,” said Dr Mahmood.