Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Hundreds of HIV-Infected Pakistani Children Left Untreated Ayaz Gul ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - The U.N. World Health Organization says hundreds of HIV positive children in Pakistan cannot get treatment because there are not enough antiretroviral drugs in the country. The children are in Larkana, a poverty-stricken district in southern Sindh province, where during the past six weeks nearly 785 people have been diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS. Officials say 82% or around 650 confirmed cases are children, most of them under the age of 5, while nearly all their parents tested negative. The WHO said in a statement it tweeted Thursday that only 43% of the total positive cases are receiving Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) because of insufficient stocks. "Current stocks are enough to meet the needs of 240 children until July, 15, 2019, of which 231 are already receiving treatment," it said. "This means that only nine more children can be enrolled for treatment using available stocks, leaving many other children, who have tested positive without treatment," the statement warned. Until the recent outbreak in Larkana, officials say, just more than 1,000 children were living with HIV in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities, with the help of international partners, including the WHO, have subjected nearly 27,000 individuals to blood screening since April 25, when the unprecedented HIV outbreak was first announced in Larkana, with an estimated population of 1.5 million. The area at the center of the outbreak is having temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius, and lacks paved roads and public transportation facilities, making it difficult for families to travel to makeshift screening camps, say members of international teams helping local partners to respond to the HIV epidemic.