Half of Aids patients unregistered

Most HIV positive people in Punjab lack access to free medicines

LAHORE:

Efforts of the Punjab Aids Control Programme and Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department have failed to bear fruit so far the the number of patients continues rising.

According to sources in the Aids control programme, the Punjab government had established around 45 centres across the province to provide medicines to Aids patients free of charge but about half the patients do not have access to the facility.

The sources said there were around 95,000 Aids patients in the province but the programme did not have their complete data.

Health experts say that the government should form a strategy to screen the thousands of suspected Ads patients and provide them free medicines.

They said the people should also not hate or ignore the patients.

The sources said the number of HIV positive patients in the big cities was on the rise, especially among the drug addicts using syringes.

December 1 is observed as the International Aids Day.

The Punjab Aids Control Programme, primary and secondary healthcare department and hospital administrations in Punjab also observed the day by organising seminars, walks and other events to raise awareness about HIV Aids.

However, the day was marked amid concern in the health sector that the number of Aids patients in Punjab might cross 100,000 in the next three years.

“There are around 195,000 HIV patients in the country and half of them are in Punjab. The province is also witnessing the highest ratio of increase in the number of patients,” said a senior official of the Punjab Aids Control Programme while speaking to The Express Tribune.

The provincial government launched the Aids control programme due to concerns about the spread of the disease. It also got cooperation of foreign donor agencies but has failed to achieve its targets.

The official said the disease had also reached villages but nothing had been done to counter this development.

He said there were patients who were willing to register themselves but the authorities were responsible to ensure that they should not cause the spread of the disease.

“The time is not much far when Aids may become a big challenge in Punjab and we have to plan measures to cope with the for situation. Almost half the total patients are not even registered and the unregistered patients are spreading the disease among others,” he said.

The official said the departments responsible for addressing problems often focus only on holding activities to mark various occasions like international days.

The official said about 50 per cent of the Aids patients had contracted the disease through syringes and most of them were drug addicts.

Provincial Minister Dr Akhtar Malik elaborated the situation and steps taken to curb Aids while addressing a seminar held to mark the day.

“People can remain safe from Aids by adopting a healthy lifestyle and precautionary measures. We should take care about the privacy of patients,” he said.

The minister said there was the facility of free test and treatment in all districts of the province and 2.1 million people’s screening had been completed.

“Around 37,000 people in Punjab have been confirmed as HIV positive while 17,000 of them are getting free treatment,” said Dr Malik.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2022.