Marking World AIDS Day

Punjab and Balochistan face challenges with the autoimmune disease

Today, December 1 is observed as World AIDS Day to spread awareness on the topic. As it concerns Pakistan, both Punjab and Balochistan are facing challenges with the autoimmune disease. While Punjab was unable to meet the goals of its AIDS programme as revealed last week, Balochistan is battling a rise in the number of cases. The increase is significant, going from a suspected number of 3,500 to 5,000 patients, according to the director of the Balochistan Health Department. In a recent press conference, the director further lamented that just more than 25% of this number is registered with the Balochistan AIDS Control Programme. Understanding what the programme aims to do and how it encourages patients to register themselves is a pertinent area for exploration.

In a closed society, the stigma with all sexually-transmitted diseases is rampant, existing even in open societies to a lesser scale. Thus, targeting AIDS patients and having them come forth to place their names on a list is a daunting task. A different approach, therefore, should be sought and one that protects the identity of affected people. In practical terms, family structures and conservatism also discourage victims to identify themselves, which is one of the greatest tragedies in a closed society, forcing family members to struggle alone because they are too fearful to expose their internal problems. This World AIDS Day should be to spread awareness but through the angle of tolerance to accept people suffering and offer empathy rather than sympathy.

The incidence of AIDS was set to rise in a society that stigmatises openness on such topics. As far as awareness goes, normalising periodic screenings would help remove apprehensions and alleviate the stigma. Finally, it is important to reach rural residences to educate and spread awareness as their access to information and healthcare remains limited.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2018.

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