KARACHI, Nov 30: Pakistan will be observing the World AIDS Day, falling on Monday, with 2,020 reported cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. The low number of identified cases in a population of more than 140 million makes the country a low prevalence one regarding HIV/AIDS.
However, there is little cause for complacency because the country is considered a high risk one by international agencies such as the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization. And given the dismal state of the government-run healthcare system it can be declared with considerable certainty that the country will not be able to cope adequately with an HIV/AIDS epidemic should one rear its head here.
Interestingly, the 2000-odd cases of HIV/AIDS which have been reported in the country give a lie to the assumption that HIV and AIDS do not represent a problem for Muslim countries. HIV and AIDS are present in considerable numbers in Bangladesh and even Saudi Arabia.
These countries have been quite candid about the issue. Bangladesh particularly has unveiled a number of initiatives which seek to create awareness of the problem and the country is beginning to reap the benefits of its endeavours.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has so far been trying to brush the issue under the carpet. This can only be described as a recipe for disaster.
About five years ago, the Pakistani cases of HIV/AIDS, by and large, involved those who had picked up the virus abroad. The people involved included those working or travelling abroad. The primary mode of transmission was sex.
But in the last six months 20 cases were identified in Larkana which involved abusers of injectable drugs. All the people identified as having HIV or AIDS had simply never travelled abroad. Putting it differently, all the cases were indigenous ones.
Considering that Pakistan has more than four million drug addicts this is a worrying development, to say the least. As can be imagined, sharing of needles is common among drug addicts. It follows then that HIV/AIDS has the potential to spread throughout this section of the population like wildfire.
Then there is the possibility of HIV/AIDS spilling over to the other sections of the Pakistani population. This is definitely on the cards because drug addicts have been known to offer sex for a price whenever there is a cash crunch.
Should anything like this happen it is questionable whether the country’s healthcare system will be able to cope. This is what should be kept in mind whenever there is mention of HIV/AIDS. Low number of HIV/AIDS today does not guarantee that there will not be an epidemic in the future.
Another big worry is that the blood available for transfusion in the country is not yet 100 per cent safe. This is so because not all the blood units are screened for Hepatitis and HIV.
This means that even a person who behaves responsibly when it comes to sex can get infected if unscreened blood is transfused into his body. This is utterly unfair as well as unethical.
As we all know, HIV and AIDS often stigmatize the persons who live with them. It follows then that, theoretically at least, someone who does not indulge in unsafe sex can get stigmatized for no fault of his or her own.
This reporter is yet to come across someone who got infected with HIV after blood was transfused into his or her body but he has met several people who got Hepatitis through this mode of transmission.
It’s a shame, really, that our blood banks are not 100 per cent safe. They should be because they are considered to be facilities that provide healthcare. What some of them are doing, instead, is spreading diseases.
What should be done about all this? Well, first, all the blood banks should be made to screen the blood to be transfused. Screening will not only eliminate transmission of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis but also will help in unearthing new and hidden cases.
Second, drug supply should be curbed. Drug addiction is in itself a worry for society. Coupled with the dangers inherent in transmission of HIV and Hepatitis, the situation becomes all the more explosive.
The demand for drugs also needs to be controlled. This will involve eliminating the causes of drug addiction and also detoxifying and rehabilitating the addicts. Both the supply side and the demand side, in other words, need to be addressed and soon.
All these steps require political commitment. Whether the authorities have this in sufficient amount remains to be seen.