Thirty-one of 2,500 persons were found to be HIV positive during a screening programme for the virus conducted in Pakistan's Sindh province, health authorities said. The new cases in Shikarpur district see a surge in cases of HIV in Sindh after 215 positive cases, including 181 children, were reported in Ratodero district of Larkana in May 2019.

District Health Officer Shabbir Sheikh said that those that have tested positive were being provided treatment and other amenities according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) regulations. In May, an international team of experts from the WHO arrived in Pakistan to probe the HIV outbreak.