LAHORE, Dec 1: Pakistan can no longer be classified as a low prevalence country as concentrated HIV-positive cases are being reported from injecting drug users (IDUs) for the last year. This was stated by Punjab AIDS Control Programme project director Dr Ali Razzaque at a seminar organized in connection with the World HIV/AIDS Day at the Alhamra Hall on Thursday.

He said there were 10 per cent HIV-positive IDUs in Faisalabad, 2.5 per cent in Lahore and one per cent in Sialkot.

Globally, he said, there were 4.9 million HIV-positive cases, while 3.1 million HIV and AIDS related deaths were reported till last month. Similarly, in Pakistan, he said, there were estimated 100,000 HIV-positive cases.

He, however, said there were 3,000 HIV-positive reported cases in Pakistan, including 550 in the Punjab. There were 73 full bloom AIDS reported cases in the Punjab, he said, adding at least 10 patients died of the disease this year.

Dr Razzaque said these figures were only a tip of the iceberg, as there were a lot many HIV infected people who either did not know that they were infected or lacked courage to show up.

He said the five-year AIDS control programme was concentrating on safe blood transfusion and vulnerable groups that included IDUs, female sex workers, men having sex with men, jail inmates and long-route truckers.

He said medicines for sexually transmitted diseases had been provided at all the teaching and district headquarters’ hospitals in the province for free distribution among patients.

Dr Razzaque said all the 120 public-sector blood banks in the province also had been provided with HIV virus screening kits. He, however, expressed grave concern over the fact that IDUs, 95 per cent of who were hepatitis-C positive cases, were selling blood to patients.

The PACP was hiring a media firm that would develop targeted messages for targeted population, he said.

Parliamentarian and Population Welfare Department chairperson Dr Samia Amjad said the available data about HIV and AIDS cases as well as surveillance system was not correct in the country. The system, she stressed, should be made more sound to know the real situation about HIV and AIDS prevalence in the country.

Director-General Health Services, Punjab, Dr Aslam Chaudhry said the number of HIV-positive patients was rapidly increasing among vulnerable groups as well as the general population owing to a lack of awareness about preventive methods. He underscored the need for launching a robust awareness campaign to check the deadly disease.

The National Institute of Health’s executive director, Gen Karamat Ahmad Karamat (retired), said the institute was running 47 testing and screening centres all over the country. He said there were 2,741 HIV-positive cases and 332 full bloom AIDS cases in Pakistan.

The former serviceman said the NIH was also providing blood screening services in the quake-affected areas. “Even the blood being donated by volunteers was being screened on a regular basis,” he said.

UNAIDS, Pakistan, country coordinator Dr Aldo Landi said the increasing trend of HIV incidence had been found among vulnerable groups in the country. He said it was a matter of grave concern that the people infected with HIV virus were still being discriminated on the basis of stigma associated with the disease. He said religious leaders could play an effective role in eliminating the stigma.

Dr Landi also read out a message of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

US Consulate, Lahore, principal Brian Heath also spoke on the occasion.