Doctors believe that young people contracted the virus due to the use of dirty needles and contaminated blood.

Axar.az reports citing SkyNews that hundreds of children became infected with HIV due to poor healthcare practices such as using dirty needles and contaminated blood in southern Pakistan, according to a study.

Doctors looked at the medical data of 31,239 people in the city of Ratodero in Sindh province, who agreed to take part in the research.

Out of that group, 930 were positive for HIV, with 763 of them younger than 16 and 604 of those under five.

The doctors are urging Pakistan's government to do more to understand how the virus went from high-risk groups - such as drug users and sex workers - to the general population.

They warned there is not enough medication in Ratodero, where 591 children are registered for HIV care.