KARACHI, Feb 20: Despite low prevalence in Pakistan as compared to other parts of the world, the lethal disease, HIV/AIDS, has touched the mark of 1942 cases.
This was observed by the speakers at a seminar on Role of Media and NGOs in the Prevention of HIV/AIDS, organized by Nabz, a monthly medical magazine, at Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) House here on Thursday.
The speakers were of the view that the spread of the disease had a big contribution from lack of awareness in masses. They noted that the majority of Pakistan’s population lacks adequate knowledge about the virus due to low literacy rate. Another factor, they said, appeared to be visits to the country by AIDS/HIV carriers — foreigners as well as Pakistanis living abroad.
The unchecked movement of such patients posed a serious threat to the healthy people in the country, they said indicating that this had led to the rapid spread of the disease. They warned that the situation might lead to uncontrollable level if the government did not take appropriate precautionary measures on urgent basis.
Dr Qamar Abbas of Sindh AIDS Control, in his presentation, said that although the reported number of AIDS/HIV cases is on lower side at present, an ‘explosion of virus’ might take place in near future. He emphasised the need for drastic preventive measures to avert the threat.
For the purpose, he proposed, community should play a pivotal role. He said that a community could combat the menace easily because the HIV/AIDS is not a transmittable disease and only little but collective efforts could help eradicate and prevent the disease. He stressed on precluding the virus at an early stage.
Quoting World Health Organization (WHO) and various other international bodies’ figures relating to the HIV/AIDS prevalence in Pakistan, he pointed out that between 50,000 and 70,000 people are in the advance stage of the virus. The major segment of the affected lot, he added, appeared to be sex workers, drivers of inter-cities transport, and people having lived abroad.
Dr Abbas told the participants that a total of 572 AIDS/HIV cases had been detected whereas the actual number could be between 25,000 and 30,000.
He said that the government had already launched a series of training workshops on regular basis for family physicians. The aim, he said, was not only to provide treatment but also to help detect and prevent spread of the disease. He appreciated the outcome of such workshops indicating that as many as 2,000 doctors had already been imparted training which would yield positive results in future. Besides, he said, NGOs were playing a very significant role in supplementing the government’s efforts in this direction.
Dr Abbas, giving a global scenario, said that over 40 million people in the world are suffering from AIDS which had claimed three million lives in 2002. There are reasons to believe that the annual death toll may rise manifold in the years to come, he quoted experts as saying.
Dr Nighat Shah, a gynaecologist at Murshid Hospital, said that the debate on AIDS was considered a taboo in this society as people appeared shy to discuss this important and sensitive issue.
She pointed out that an overwhelming majority, 70 per cent, of the affected women acquired the virus through sexual relationship with an AIDS carrier while the rest through blood transfusion.
She observed that the children born with AIDS/HIV acquired it from their mothers and their number appeared no less than 0.6 million which signified the magnitude of the menace.
Mentioning the risk factor, she said that many of the more or less four million Pakistanis living abroad were posing a serious threat to their countrymen. She stressed the need for proper screening of those returning home and regretted that Pakistan lacked resources to make available proper and adequate equipment and service for the purpose.
She opined that most of the AIDS patients in Pakistan were sex workers. Prisoners come next, she added.
Dr Mujeeb of the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Complex (JPMC) told the seminar that unlike other lethal diseases which remained confined to some particular places or continent, HIV/AIDS appeared to be the only disease which had struck all the continents. He said that its spread had been phenomenal as since 1981, when first patient was discovered, some 40 million people across the globe were found affected.
Others who spoke at the seminar were Dr Haseeb Alam, Dr Sher Shah Syed, Dr Habib Soomro and Dr Tipu Sultan.—PPI
