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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV Pakistan HIV Patients & Floods - Dar
HEADLINE: Healthcare Access Difficult for HIV Patients in Flood Ravaged Areas of Pakistan
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 12/1/2022 at 9:25p
BYLINE: Sidra Dar
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Sindh, Pakistan
VIDEOGRAPHER: Muhammad Khalil
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Kenochs; MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original | Urdu Service
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:42
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TV
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[In the highly conservative country of Pakistan, AIDs patients often face discrimination that keeps them from disclosing their diagnosis. Hundreds of HIV cases reported in Sindh Province in 2019 included children. That region was recently devastated by floods, making access to healthcare for HIV patients even more difficult. VOA’s Sidra Dar reports from Sindh Province, in this report narrated by Asadullah Khalid.]]
((NARRATOR))
Farida Taaj lost her home due to the recent torrential monsoon season rains that flooded Pakistan from June through August. The flooding has killed over 17-hundred people and caused almost 15 billion dollars’ worth of damages throughout the country.
But for Taaj, nothing is more important than her daughter’s health. The 5-year-old was diagnosed HIV positive a year and a half ago.
((Farida Taaj, Bachal’s Mother)) ((Female in Urdu))
“She is so sweet and dear to me; I don't understand anything. Where did this disease come from? Where did my daughter get it from? That’s what concerns me the most.”
((NARRATOR))
Taaj’s daughter, who must take medications for the rest of her life, is not the only child living with HIV and AIDS in the region.
Over 100 children tested HIV positive in the Ratodero area of Sindh in 2019, the most recent year statistics are available.
((NARRATOR))
Raising awareness about the disease in this highly conservative area was already a big challenge for health workers, damages to health facilities in the region caused by the
heavy flooding has created an even bigger obstacle as most HIV registered patients have been displaced.
((NARRATOR))
Health workers say they are doing their best to help their patients.
((Dr. Shahida Hafeez Memon, HIV Center in Ratodero)) ((Female in Urdu))
“Some patients told us that they couldn’t come to us because of the floods, so we often delivered the medications to them. We were open throughout the floods and the biggest challenge we faced was that we were not able to see the children. Their parents would often come and pick up the medications.”
((NARRATOR))
Health workers say over 2,100 HIV cases have been registered in Ratodero region. Over 14-hundred of those cases are children.
Madina tested positive for HIV after arriving at the clinic with a high fever.
((Sakiona Bibi, Madina’s Mother)) ((Female in Urdu))
“The fever is not leaving her, sometimes it gets worse, sometimes it is less. They say that it is HIV and to also bring the other children who are at home to get tested.”
((NARRATOR))
Taaj says some people are judgmental of her child's disease.
((Farida Taaj, Bachal’s Mother)) ((Female in Urdu))
“We meet some people, who look down on my daughter and tell me to not get close to her or even talk to her. And that breaks my heart because this is my daughter.”
((NARRATOR))
The destruction caused by the floods may eventually come to an end, but according to the parents of HIV-positive children, it is difficult to move on from hurtful remarks and glances. Medical workers in the region say they do what they can: advising people to keep their distance from the disease, not the patients.
((For Sidra Dar in Sindh, Pakistan – Asadullah Khalid – VOANEWS))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Sindh, Pakistan
Embargo DateDecember 1, 2022 21:39 EST
BylineSidra Dar
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America, Voice of America - English