Healthcare professionals believe awareness about the disease is necessary to provide early treatment
TURBAT: The province of Balochistan already has more than its fair share of health-related problems. It has one of the highest numbers of drug addicts, maternal and infant mortality rates and recently, dengue also is on the rise. However, the most worrisome is the rapidly rising incidence of HIV/AIDS. According to the provincial chief of the AIDS Control Programme, 5,000 out of a population of 12 million have been tested positive for HIV. Out of this, only 1,133 are registered patients in the province. The programme also expects the number of HIV-positive people to be actually higher, as many are unaware of their status and have never been tested for the disease. 20,000 people are diagnosed HIV-positive in the country every year. Healthcare professionals believe awareness about the disease is necessary to provide early treatment to prevent HIV from turning into AIDS.
Doctors believe that the most common reason for the increasing incidence is the misconception that HIV/AIDS is only transmitted sexually. Hence, people do not take due precautions and tend to use used syringes (mostly a result of the increasing drug addiction in Balochistan), barbers’ shaving blades and unhygienic practices by quack dentists. At a recent conference, the provincial chief of the HIV programme had stated that the government and the ulema need to work together with healthcare professionals to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and encourage patients to receive proper medical care, and the government should provide facilities to HIV/AIDS patients, in order to assist and encourage them in seeking treatment.
Tilyan Aslam
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2019.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
