Only 23% HIV/AIDS patients are aware of their disease: expert

KARACHI:

Only 23% of more than 210,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan are aware of their disease.

This was revealed by Dr. Syed Sharaf Ali, Executive Director of Bridge Consultants Foundation, at a press briefing organized by the Infection Control Society on Wednesday where President of Infection Control Society Pakistan Prof. Muhammad Rafiq Khanani and other medical experts were also present.

Every two minutes a person somewhere in the world gets infected with HIV and every minute a person dies of AIDS, said the experts.

According to the UNAIDS statistics, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan in 2021 was 210,000, of which 41,000 are women, 170,000 are men, and 4,600 are children.

The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan is 0.2% while the disease has so far killed 9,600 people.

Every year, World AIDS Day is dedicated to raise awareness about the disease and support people living with HIV.

Dr. Ali said that 38.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide. There were 650,000 HIV-related deaths in 2021, he added.

Pakistan is one of the countries in the world where HIV/AIDS cases are increasing at an alarming rate.

"Currently, Pakistan is facing a concentrated HIV epidemic. Among others, including people who inject drug addicts, sex workers, and gay and transgender populations, HIV prevalence is more than 5%," he said.

"About 53% of those affected belong to key population. HIV prevalence in the general population is still less than 0.2% but the recent outbreak in Ratodero, Larkana, has raised serious concerns," he added.

The number of new HIV cases is increasing in Pakistan. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of HIV cases increased by 75%