Health practitioners have expressed concern over alarming increase in HIV/AIDS patients, particularly among the addicts, using drugs through infected injections in the country.
Delivering a lecture on "Treatment of HIV-infected patients", an expert on infectious diseases and consultant in California, Dr Shehla Baqi thoroughly explained the methods of treatment to the health practitioners and medical students.
The lecture was organised by the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) here on Thursday.
She said in United States many novel anti-retroviral are being developed and there is a great hope but cost of anti-retroviral therapy is too high for developing countries, adding, "We must work towards its affordability in our country."
Dr Shehla also spoke in detailed about available tests and drugs for treatment of HIV/AIDS patients.
In his opening remarks, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Masood Hameed said, "A Centre of Excellence is being set up in Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) with the assistance of AIDS Control Programme.
Latest testing and surveillance facilities would be available in the centre, he added.
He said the university was ensuring proper hygienic conditions for infection control in its under-control hospitals, Civil Hospital and Lyari General Hospital.
Sindh AIDS Control Programme Manager Dr Sharaf Ali Shah said, "A total number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan by June 2003 was 2,086, whereas the first case of AIDS in the country was reported in 1986."
The number is much more than reported, he said, adding that according to the estimates of WHO-UNAIDS there were around 70,000 to 80,000 patients in the country, he added.
Sindh has the largest number of HIV/AIDS patients, which is 613, whereas in Punjab, the number of HIV/AIDs patients stand at 456, in NWFP, 414, Balochistan 192, in federal capital 289 and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir 22 patients were reported.
He regretted that about 70 percent of the HIV-AIDS patients were those Pakistani workers who were deported from the Gulf countries, whereas the ratio of male is 87.2 percent as against 12.8 percent in females.
Most of the female patients were infected through their husbands, he said, adding that female sex workers, Eunuchs, truck drivers, prisoners and STI patients are others who are the most infected HIV/AIDS patients.
Dr Sharaf Shah said that 'Thalesemia' patients were the most HIV/AIDS infected patients, who receive multiple blood transfusions. This disease is prevalent in children as well, he said, adding, "Out of 1.5 million blood banks in the country, only 20 percent of it are safe owing to lack of screening facilities in the blood banks."
According to a study conducted in 2000, out of 4 million drug addicts over 60,000 were using injecting method of drugs or sharing the same needles, which has put the number of suspects at an alarming proportion.
Recently, the first outbreak was identified in Larkana, in which during June 2003 to February 2004, about 38 injecting drug users were tested HIV positive, he added.
The study of AIDS patients has indicated that predominant mode of transmission of HIV is through heterosexual relations, which stands at 63.83 percent. The other modes are homosexual, which stands at 5.93 percent, while blood products stand at 7.23 percent and vertical transmission at 3 percent.
Presently, sex has been considered as predominant mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS in the country, but now injecting drugs has become an important and common mode of transmission, he added.