May 12, 2006	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 11: Pakistan has no longer a “window of opportunity” to act in advance in order to prevent the transmission of HIV/Aids among people injecting drugs, says a study conducted by a non-governmental organisation.

The findings of the NGO - Nai Zindagi - stress that the country need to do more to fight against this deadly virus. With HIV prevalence among people injecting drugs in Faisalabad and Sargodha as high as 9.5 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively, the price of “inaction” would be immense.

“We can no longer deny that although we had to act yesterday we must at least act now in order to minimise further damage,” the report underscores.

There is sufficient evidence and proof that in the settings similar to Pakistan’s, where people inject drugs and share syringes, HIV prevalence can reach pandemic proportions in just a matter of few months.

To address this public health threat, lip service and tokenism will not work. “We need to take stock of what works and what does not and based on experience scale up services and interventions to reach to at least 60 per cent of those at risk.”