Fighting AIDS

Speaking at a seminar the other day, a senior official of the Sindh HIV/AIDS Control Programme disclosed that the province has as many as 4,794 HIV/AIDS registered cases. The same day another press report from Peshawar said that 1000 AIDS cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the first half of the current year, and that the actual number could be much higher considering that many patients avoid taking tests for the disease fearing isolation in society. It is pertinent to recall here a Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report launched last year that made the distressing disclosure that Pakistan is among 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region most affected by HIV. According to the report, prevalence of AIDS in Pakistan jumped up from 11 percent in 2005 to 21 percent in 2008. This sudden rise though may be attributable to better awareness and prevention programmes that encourage patients to seek help. Needless to say, AIDS prevention programmes must maintain a sustained focus on high risk groups such as drug users and sex workers. According to KP Health Department, 20 percent of those using drug injections tested HIV positive in Peshawar last year. And despite the conservative nature of this society, the world's oldest profession is alive and well in this country. The seminar was informed that there are as many as 21,000 women sex workers in Karachi alone, whose average age is 26.4 years and literacy rate 41 percent. No figures are available for the incidence of HIV among these women, but without a tinge of doubt they are a highly vulnerable group. Sustained public awareness campaigns, of course, are necessary to better educate all people about adopting preventive measures. Equally, if not more important, is the need to enhance access to life-saving HIV treatment facilities through integration with the general health services. In this regard, KP's health department has taken an important step forward by deciding to engage 13,000 lady health workers for its AIDS Control Programme. Noting that many HIV infected Pakistanis are being deported from Middle Eastern countries, especially the UAE, the provincial government says these workers will increase awareness about the transmission of the disease and safe sex in addition to promoting family planning. It is imperative also to regulate the affairs of private hospitals' blood banks and dental clinics, which are a significant source of HIV spread. Health officials must find a way to ensure that all blood donations are properly screened so that they are not tainted with HIV, hepatitis or other communicable viruses. As for dental clinics, knowledge about possible hazards is expected to urge people to demand required sterilization standards. In short, now that health is a provincial subject, all the provinces must take on the HIV/AIDS hazard with effective plans that include better awareness, prevention, treatment, and after-care.