Daily Times

PESHAWAR: According to the report of HIV /AIDs Control Program Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 157 children across the province were infected with HIV while Peshawar tops the list of HIV patients in the province as around 298 patients were registered with the HIV program.

According to the data shared by the HIV program with Daily Times, around 2643 HIV patients were registered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of which 2341 were registered in Hayatabad Medical ComplexFamily Centre. 1,781 were male HIV patients while 587 were female patients, while more than 150 children were registered with the programme. The data of HIV Control Programme KP said that Peshawar is on top in HIV patients as around 298 patients were registered till 2016 while North Waziristan, with 119 patients, comes in second. Similarly in Upper Dir and Lower Dir, 152 cases of HIVwere recorded. Mardan had 55 cases, Swabi 81 cases, Nowshera 49 cases, Bannue 51 cases, and Malakand 21 cases in 2016.

Pakistan has around 94,000 HIV positive patients, the second largest number in South Asia. There are estimated to be around 16,000 unregistered HIV patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the United Nation’s office on Drug Abuse and Crime report, around 47,000 injecting drug users (IDUs) share syringes due to the unavailability of sterile needles.

According to the Trans Action Alliance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 50,000 transgenders were living in KP, 500 of them in Peshawar. Among these, 20% were living with HIV/Aids. Talking to Daily Times, Project Director HIV Aids Control Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Ayub Rose, said that the provincial government has already approved PC-1 with Rs.500 million for the integrated program for the treatment of HIV/ Aids, Hepatitis and Thalassemia patients.

He further said that in the annual budget 2016-17 that the provincial government would establish family care centres in seven district of KP in Districts Health Hospitals (DHQ) to treat the HIV/Aids, Thalassemia and HCV patients. He further said that because of social taboos and stigma, most of the people who were deported from abroad because of HIV/AIDs did not tell their families, and ended up transferring it to their wives and children.

Dr. Rose said that the provincial government was committed to eliminate the disease of HIV/Aids from KP and for this purpose steps have been taken. He added that the media should also play a role in creating awareness among the masses regarding HIV/Aids prevention.