Pakistan's annual use of 800 million injections, world's highest, fuels HIV/AIDS spread

A Pakistani drug user prepares a syringe of a heroin along a street in Karachi on June 25, 2012. (AFP/ File)

• Pakistan is estimated to have 200,000 HIV cases, and its key population has passed the epidemic threshold
• Health experts says social stigma associated with the disease is the biggest challenge for those trying to treat HIV patients

KARACHI: Pakistani health officials and experts warned on Monday the country was becoming more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS due to the unrestricted and uncontrolled use of 800 million injections per year which was the “highest in the world.”
Pakistan reported its first case of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), in 1987.
It is estimated that the country currently had 200,000 HIV/AIDS cases, and its most densely populated Punjab province is said to be the most vulnerable.
“About 800 million injections are administered in Pakistan every year which is 4.5 injections per capita and is the highest in the world,” Dr. Irshad Kazmi, a top official with the Directorate General Health Services in Sindh, told Arab News on the sidelines of a media training workshop in Karachi. “These injections increase the risk of HIV transmission and cause other blood infections.”
The workshop was jointly organized by the United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Communicable Disease Control Directorate (CDCD).
Despite the availability of alternatives, Kazmi said, people mostly insisted on taking their medicines through injections.
“There are 200,000 estimated cases of HIV in Pakistan,” he continued. “Over 70,000 of these cases have been recorded in Sindh. We have registered about 12,000 of them in our network and are treating them free of cost.”
Kazmi informed that Punjab was the most vulnerable province to HIV/AIDS where total number of cases was estimated to be 104,000. He mentioned Kot Imrana, a small settlement in Sargodha district, where the HIV rate had increased from 1.29 percent to 13.38 percent in only six months.
Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rato Dero in Hyderabad, Sindh, were other vulnerable areas in the country.
“Pakistan is placed in the consultative phase of HIV epidemic, which implies that HIV prevalence rate among key population has exceeded five percent,” Dr. Rajwal Khan, who works as strategic information adviser with UNAIDS, said.
Key population is a term used to refer to those segments of society which are most vulnerable to the disease and include female sex workers, transgender community, drug addicts and prisoners.
“In Pakistan, the key population has already passed the epidemic threshold,” Khan said.
As HIV/AIDS spreads among the population, Pakistani health practitioners face the challenge of treating people who have contracted the disease.
“Social stigma is the biggest hurdle that prevent people from going to doctors or medical facilities. This is despite the fact that we provide treatment and medicines free of cost,” Fahmida Iqbal, UNAIDS Community Support Adviser, said.
“People fear social discrimination,” she added. “To stop the spread of the virus, we will have to change this mindset.”