KARACHI, July 7: Last year the country managed to obtain funding from the United Nations for the procurement of anti-retroviral drugs, used to combat the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). But Pakistanis living with AIDS and HIV are still awaiting supply of the same.

The National AIDS Control Programme, Islamabad, was supposed to supply the drugs to the provincial chapters of the programme, for onward supply to the HIV positive people. The delay in supply of the drugs have a number of adverse consequences, say doctors.

The said drug is said to have two advantages for those living with HIV; first, the transmission of the contagious disease stops the moment treatment with the anti-retroviral drug starts because the virus causing the condition is eliminated in the person carrying it.

And, second, the earlier an HIV positive person gets the drug, the better for his survival. A non-governmental organization named Gender and Reproductive Health Forum, Karachi, sent a statement to Dawn in this regard on Wednesday, which says: "(Some) individuals are living with HIV in the hope of getting anti-retroviral drugs since the last one year.

But they still don't see light at the end of the tunnel. "During the last few months, several positive persons who could not get medicines have died due to the criminal delay on the part of the National AIDS Control Programme."

Talking to this reporter, the chief of the NGO, Mirza Aleem Baig, said an 11-year-old boy died a few months ago simply because his treatment could not be started in time. The thalassaemic boy, he said, had become positive after one of his frequent blood transfusions.

"In this tragic case the boy got AIDS because of the failure of the blood transfusion service to ensure the supply of safe blood and not because of his behaviour," said Mr Baig.

When contacted, the chief of the Sindh AIDS Control Programme, Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, said anti-retroviral drugs were likely to be supplied to HIV positive people soon. "I don't think there will be further delay.

"The biggest problem in such cases is the release of needed funds. This has already been achieved. The supply of the drugs have been held up only because of some procedural problems, which I think will be removed soon."

Dr Shah said up to 400 Pakistanis living with HIV and AIDS were going to be provided with drugs under the initiative launched by the United Nations-sponsored Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

More than $2.5 million had been allocated for AIDS under the initiative. He said more than a 100 HIV positive people, residing in Sindh, could be provided treatment if the national programme started supplying the badly-needed drugs.