Patients in Hyderabad: Nowhere to go
It’s been three years since Nisar, 19, tested HIV positive, but his treatment is yet to begin.
Unfortunately for Nisar, he lives in Hyderabad, the divisional headquarters of eight districts, which lacks treatment facilities for HIVAIDS.
An orphan with four younger siblings – two brothers and two sisters – that he has to look after, Nisar says he was diagnosed with the disease in 2008. The doctors had told him then that he could survive for some time without antiretroviral drugs.
“I had to go for follow-up tests, but my responsibilities and travel have been holding me back,” says Nisar, who was tested at Civil Hospital, Karachi.
“I am planning to go to Karachi again for some tests and perhaps get treatment, but I’m not sure when that will happen because it involves expenses and time,” said Nisar, who is unemployed and lives on the money given by some relatives and as well as some resources his father left behind.
“The required tests, psychological care and treatment is only available in Karachi or Larkana,” said Dr Zahid Saddar, coordinator Sindh Health and Education Development Society (SHEDS) in Hyderabad. “But we mostly refer cases to Karachi due to proximity.”
According to Mumtaz Jatoi, vice president Aakash Welfare Society, 21 HIV positive cases have been screened in Hyderabad this year with most of them comprising male or transgender sex workers. “But the number of infected people can be more,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2011.
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