WASHINGTON, Dec 2: An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 persons or 0.1 per cent of the adult population in Pakistan are infected with the HIV, says a World Bank report.

The report released on the World AIDS Day on Monday points out that social taboos prevent patients from reporting their affliction, and thus a large number of cases go unreported.

By the end of September 2002, only 1,972 HIV cases and 231 AIDS cases had been reported to the government’s National AIDS Control Programme, says the report quoting UNAIDS statistics.

“Although the prevalence of HIV infection in Pakistan is still low, the country is highly vulnerable to an escalating epidemic due to a number of significant risk factors,” the report warns.