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KARACHI, Nov 28: The Sindh Aids Control Programme (SACP) has registered 45 women province-wide living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids) over the past one and a half years, till the end of Sept 2007.
Sources in the SACP said that reports about the prevalence of HIV/Aids in women in Sindh had increased considerably during the last four to six years and if the trend continued, the proportion of women among Aids patients would increase further. At present, the ratio of men to women patients is 4:1, sources added.
In developing countries, the women to men ratio of Aids patients is 3:2, while in India 39 per cent of such patients are women. Till March 2007 as many as 325 male and 44 female Aids patients were registered with Aids control agencies in Pakistan.
An Aids control official said that almost all the women victims of the deadly disease, who had been registered with the SACP, maintained families and reportedly got the disease from their infected spouses. The vast majority of male expatriates returning to the country are feared to have contracted HIV/Aids through the exchange of bodily fluids during their prolonged stay abroad.
The official, however, said that one’s risk of contracting HIV also increased if one had a previous or current diagnosis of hepatitis, tuberculosis (TB) or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or if one had received a blood transfusion or clotting factor when blood is not screened for HIV antibodies.
Among the reported cases, it was learnt, there were two such pregnant women, married to the same man, who got infected due to the unprotected practices of their husband. They found out that they were HIV-positive only when they got pregnant, a source said.
According to a UNAIDS report, since 1985 the percentage of women among adults living with HIV/Aids has risen from 35 per cent to 48 per cent worldwide. Young women currently make up over 60 per cent of all the 15 to 24-year-olds living with HIV/Aids. A surveillance report on Pakistan said that there were 3,866 people living in the country with HIV/Aids till the end of March, 2007. The man to woman ratio remained 6:1.
Dr Azra Ghayas, the Director of the SACP’s Centre of Excellence at Karachi, said that when she had started the counselling, testing and treatment centre in May 2006, about 10 women were registered as HIV/Aids patients at that time. Now, in November 2007, the number of women patients had increased to 41, which is the result of extensive counselling and increased awareness about the disease as infected male patients registered with the SACP agreed to bring their wives as well for examination, she added.
The number of women patients is likely to swell further as the persons suffering from the disease, in a state of ignorance and shyness or due to social stigma in the initial years, are sure to show signs of infection now.
Dr Azra said that the symptoms that could serve as warning signals of HIV infection went ignored also because women in this part of the world did not perceive themselves to be at risk. “It is unjust that infected men do not ensure proper use of barrier methods,” she remarked.
A simple blood test that checks for the HIV-antibody is all that is required to determine whether a woman or man is infected or not.
But, in a situation where the impact of gender autonomy is yet to be felt adequately, women in our society are largely not able to insist on their husbands taking precautions or are unable to take measures to protect themselves from HIV, said a health worker at a government hospital in the city.
Discussing the crisis of HIV/Aids that women are confronting, the Deputy Programme Manager of the SACP, Dr Syed Qamar Abbas, said greater efforts were required to address the concrete needs of women and girls.
“While there still exist major inequalities between women and men in all aspects of life, including education and awareness, employment, social and economic empowerment and choices in relationships, how can one expect that just remaining faithful to her husband would help a woman stay safe from HIV,” he observed.
According to Dr Abbas, HIV prevention among women is the responsibility of both partners and men must play an equal role in this. Women are biologically more vulnerable to HIV so there is room for educating women on STDs, the use of condoms and violence against women, he emphasised.
Record of HIV patients registered till Sept 2007
HIV
Total HIV patients 1,838
Aids
Male 120
Female 24
Total 144
Deaths
Male 33
Female 3
Total 36
Source: Sindh Aids Control Programme
