Stigmatized suffering : HIV-positive cases reemerge

Quacks performing unsafe blood transfusions have instigated a spike in the incidence of the taboo illness

KARACHI:

For a country with innumerable taboos conditioning the social lives of people, having a diagnosis of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a one way ticket to a life of desolation, irrespective of whether or not the illness was transferred through an illicit liaison or a botched transfusion.

Due negligence and lack of monitoring in health facilities supervised by the Sindh Health Department and the Sindh Healthcare Commission, have instigated the spike in cases of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Larkana, four years after the disease was first reported in the area.

“A number of factors have contributed towards the growth in the number of HIV positive cases. Most importantly, there are several quack doctors in the area who are performing unsterile blood transfusions, and are administering injections with used syringes, thereby allowing the virus to spread between patients,” explained Dr Muhammad Naeem, Project Director at the Sindh AIDS Control Program.

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According to data obtained from the Sindh AIDS Control Program, almost 2,000 people have been confirmed HIV-positive in Larkana, out of which 55 percent were children between the ages of one and five, while 18 percent were infants less than the age of one, allowing the latest outbreak of HIV in interior Sindh to make history as the largest epidemic of the virus globally among children.

Health activists like Dr Sharaf Ali Shah working closely on diseases like HIV, believe that the stigmatization of the illness has obstructed any efforts aimed at preventing and curing the disease. “HIV is curable, but in our society, it is considered a disease of untouchability. Therefore, in order to avoid the ostracization that accompanies a diagnosis, many people in rural areas refrain from seeking help at clinics and prefer instead to go to quack doctors or herbalists,” observed Dr Shah, who further highlighted the need for a didactic awareness campaign on HIV-AIDS aimed at the rural population.

“The locals in Larkana must be educated about the modes of transmission of HIV,” asserted Dr Zaid Ansari, former Chief Pathologist at the Civil Hospital in Karachi.

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“No one should use the syringe, blade, nail cutter or shaving equipment used by an infected patient. Since the virus is transmitted through blood and other human secretions, people must take relevant precautions,” he added.

It should be noted that the first case of the HIV-AIDS virus was reported in April 2019 in Rato Dero, Larkana, after which the Sindh Health Department had initiated a mass screening of 37,272 people, out of which 1811 were diagnosed with the disease.

Speaking to the Express Tribune on the matter, Dr Sikandar Memon, former Project Director of the Sindh AIDS Control Program said, “The Sindh Health Care Commission has started an operation against all quack doctors, who have instigated this epidemic. As far as the treatment of patients is concerned, medicines are being provided to the infected people free of cost.”

“In order to control the spread of the disease, HIV and hepatitis tests have been made mandatory for pregnant women and patients undergoing surgeries in all government hospitals across the province,” concluded Dr Naeem, Project Director of the Sindh AIDS Control Program.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2023.