HIV infection cases on rise in Pakistan

According to a study conducted by UN AIDS and WHO, the total number of HIV positive people in Pakistan lies between 46000 to 0.21 million, informed the guest speakers in a press briefing held here on Friday. They further disclosed that in Pakistan, an improved surveillance shows that HIV prevalence is increasing among injecting drug users.
A study shows that in Karachi, an increase in HIV prevalence among injecting drug users from under 1 percent in early 2004 to 26 percent in March 2005. While other studies have found that HIV prevalence among injecting drug users has reached 24 percent in Quetta, 12 percent in Sargodha, nearly 10 percent in Faisalabad and 8 percent in Larkana. HIV prevalence remains low in other cities.
According to a survey conducted by Ministry of Health and National AIDS Control Program, among female sex workers in Karachi, HIV prevalence in 2005 was2 percent while it was below 1 percent in Lahore and Rawalpindi. The guest speakers comprised Arkdiusz, UN AIDS's co-ordinator and other UN AIDS and WHO officials.
Globally, in 2007, 33.2 million people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million people become newly infected and 2.1 million people died of AIDS. There were an estimated 1.7 million new HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007, a significant reduction since 2001. However the region remains most affected. An estimated 22.5 million people living with HIV, 68 percent of the global total is in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Eight countries in this region now account for almost one-third of all new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths globally. Since 2001, the number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has increased by over 150 percent from 630,000 to 1.6 million in 2007. In Asia the estimated number of people living with HIV in Vietnam has more then doubled between 2000 and 2005 and Indonesia has the fastest growing epidemic.
The guest speakers stressed the need for creating awareness among the masses about this epidemic and requested stakeholders to play their part in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan and its accountability.
Every year 1st December marks the World AIDS Day (WAD). The theme for this year to 2010 is 'Stop AIDS Keep Promise'. On this World Aids Day the focus is on leadership. The speakers on the occasion asked all the people from all walks of life to become a leader in controlling and creating awareness among the masses about HIV/AIDS.