Objective To understand the health status of HIV orphans in a well-structured institutional facility in India. Method Prospective longitudinal analysis of growth and anaemia prevalence among these children, between June 2008 and May 2011. Results A total of 85 HIV-infected orphan children residing at Sneha Care Home, Bangalore, for at least 1 year, were included in the analysis. Prevalence of anaemia at entry into the home was 40%, with the cumulative incidence of anaemia during the study period being 85%. At baseline, 79% were underweight and 72% were stunted. All children, irrespective of their antiretroviral therapy (ART) status, showed an improvement in nutritional status over time as demonstrated by a significant increase in weight (median weight-for-age Z-score: −2.75 to −1.74, P < 0.001) and height Z-scores (median height-for-age Z-score: −2.69 to −1.63, P < 0.001). Conclusion These findings suggest that good nutrition even in the absence of ART can bring about improvement in growth. The Sneha Care Home model indicates that the holistic approach used in the Home may have been helpful in combating HIV and poor nutritional status in severely malnourished orphaned children.

Pakistan made its name as one of the leading kidney markets during the last 15 years because of the availability of willing organ donors. A major motivating factor is poverty, which induces the underprivileged to proffer their organs to the marketplace. Vendors (i.e., people selling their kidneys) hope that compensated kidney donation will lead to a better life that is debt‐free and without despair. By engaging kidney brokers, private hospitals have commercialized the milieu and set aside misgivings about abusing the poor for profit. Contributing factors to this practice are analyzed in this article. The administration in Pakistan must assuage the predicament of the deprived, and in addition must strengthen and stringently enforce both the organ transplant law and compensated organ donations to curtail a recalcitrant and unethical kidney trade.