Daily Times

World AIDS Day was observed at the beginning of this month. There are reportedly some 36.9 million people globally who have tested HIV-positive. Meaning that this in time could develop into full-blown AIDS; an incurable auto-immune disease.

Here in Pakistan, around 20,000 new HIV infections are registered annually. Indeed, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns, the country suffers the highest increase on this front, regionally.

The health crisis on this front is manifold. Firstly, there is the question of awareness. In terms of how the disease is transmitted; primarily intravenously or else through sexual relations. Both of which carry certain social stigmas pertaining to drug abuse and promiscuity. Thus it becomes all too easy to pin the blame exclusively on the shoulders of drug users and sex workers. Yet the key here is education and, in the case of the latter, the mainstreaming of this industry. Also, focusing on these two groups alone overlooks the question of inadequate sterilisation in hospitals; posing risks to healthcare professionals and patients alike. As well as the urgent need to keep open wounds protected at all times.

A second complication is linked to lack of information as to the importance of regular testing. Government statistics on this front paint a grim picture. Some 150,000 people in Pakistan are living with HIV. But just 16 percent have been tested; while a mere 9 percent have access to lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs. Thereby contributing to the 45 percent increase in the number of HIV infections since 2010. All of which explains why this country is also home to a rise in the number of deaths related to this disease.

That being said, the new political set-up has demonstrated commitment to tackling the AIDS problem. There have been pledges to add 12 new HIV treatment centres to the 33 that are already operational throughout the country. This is to be appreciated. But unless serious efforts are made to render treatment more accessible or to confront social stigmas any progress will be piecemeal.  *

Published in Daily Times, December 3^rd 2018.