KARACHI, Dec 1: Sindh has 40 per cent of reported HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan with the total number of such cases reported till September 2005 being 1,278. This was stated by Dr Shaheed Hussain Isran, Programme Manager of the Enhanced HIV/AIDS Control Programme, Sindh, at a seminar organized here on Wednesday in collaboration with the Hussaini Blood Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to mark the 17th World AIDS Day.

He said that 104 of the reported cases were full blown AIDS cases whereas 1,174 other were HIV Asymptomatic Cases.

Among the programme’s main objectives are minimizing the stigmatization of vulnerable groups; to prevent spread of HIV in general population; and to maintain it below one per cent.

Highlighting relevance of his strategy, he observed that of around 500,000 estimated heroin addicts in the country, over 30 per cent now inject drugs in streets and above 99 per cent of the persons injecting the drug are men.

Injecting in groups (sharing) is high, as this comes to 93 to 97 per cent. While Hepatitis-C is above 80 per cent among the people injecting drugs, there was also a very low number of people using a condom among sexually active individuals - particularly those identified as high-risk groups.

Dr Isran also referred to the spread of HIV among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), mentioning that among the 6,458 Larkana, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi-based IDUs tested, 427 (6.6 per cent) were tested HIV positive.

He extensively discussed the difficulties being faced to control the situation and called for measures to be adopted to meet the targets with a modified strategy with maximum involvement of all stake-holders.

Dr Syed Abdul Mujib of the JPMC stressed urgency of helping policy-makers and general public to come out of the prevalent sense of denial.

Referring to the fact that high-risk groups remain in close contact with other segments of the society as besides maintaining an active family and also indulge in other activities, like selling blood, the doctor warned that the ailment was silently creeping up. This, he said, demands proper awareness and pragmatic approach to handle the situation.

Regretting the existent lack of will, Prof Mujib mentioned that many countries, including Thailand and Senegal, had witnessed a high incidence of HIV/AIDS but managed to control the situation and protect their people against the scourge.

Dr Zahid Hasan Ansari of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority also explicitly discussed the measures adopted by his organization to address the problem.—APP