PESHAWAR: The number of people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) registered with the government in Pakistan currently stands at 36,902, which includes the former tribal areas and Gilgit-Baltistan, a senior medic working with the government said on the eve of World AIDS day.
The total number of registered and unregistered people living in Pakistan with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, were estimated to be close to 160,000 in 2018 according to the United Nations.
“Currently, we have 36,902 registered people living with HIV while 20,994 people are receiving antiretroviral therapy,” Dr. Umair Malik, national treatment coordinator of the AIDS Control program told Arab News.
From Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Dr. Muhammad Salim Khan, project director of the KP AIDS Control program, told Arab News there were 5,432 registered HIV/AIDS patients in the province. This included the newly-merged tribal areas-- which had 738 registered AIDS patients undergoing medical treatment.
Dr. Khan said the program had launched several measures through its family care center for HIV registered cases and the provincial government has established HIV centers in eight districts of the province where patients are being given treatment free of cost.
In addition, he said advanced HIV diagnostics were being offered twice a year which included HIV viral loading tests and the provision of HIV drugs to patients for free.
Provision of counseling services to HIV patients and family members, he said, was also being provided, including surgical equipment for delivery and obstetrics care to prevent mother to child transmission.
“The main cause of the increase in the number of patients is due to the use of contaminated syringes. People who inject drugs are among the groups most vulnerable to HIV infection. On average, one in ten new HIV infections are caused by the sharing of needles,” Dr. Khan added.
Earlier, addressing a press conference in Peshawar on Friday, Dr. Khan had reiterated the community’s role in controlling the spread of the disease and the need for greater awareness.
“Awareness campaigns will be launched in collaboration with people from different schools of thought to change the perception among the community about AIDS patients. Tragically, the impression about AIDS patients is negative in society, which needs to be changed,” he said.
According to Dr. Durkhana, project director of the AIDS program for the merged tribal areas, one of the factors contributing to the spread of the disease in these areas was that patients who acquired AIDS were too embarrassed to seek medical help.
Dr. Mudassir Shehzad, deputy director for KP AIDS control program, said it was mainly sex workers, transgender persons, and drug users sharing needles, who were most affected by the disease.
“A perception direly needs to be created in society that we only abhor AIDS... not the patient with AIDS,” he said.
