Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: Of stigmas and taboos

PESHAWAR:

Not many people have the strength to fight a global menace all by themselves, but people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) think otherwise.

Zahoor Khan and his friends have embarked on a difficult journey to break taboos associated with AIDS in K-P and the tribal areas.

In 2010, Zahoor, together with some AIDS patients, set up an organisation called Peoples Living with AIDS (PLWA) in K-P to fight the disease.“We want to voice the sufferings of people infected with AIDS and that is why we started the PLWA,” Zahoor tells The Express Tribune.

Zahoor says that AIDS patients in K-P suffer immensely from employment-related issues — given the stigma attached to the disease.

“Even those who are educated are discriminated against in the job market,” he explains.

However, the PLWA is trying to break the taboo and culture of silence associated with AIDS. Zahoor tells The Express Tribune that his organisation has been in contact with around 300 AIDS patients in the province and tribal areas. He says that the number of cases has been on the rise due to a lack of awareness regarding the disease.

Zahoor says that one of the major problems associated with AIDS is the fact that people tend to hide their illness — forgoing any chance of possible treatments.

The organisation suffers in terms of data collection too because of the same reason. “When we call their homes, they did not attend our calls,” he reveals.“Many patients even change their names.”

K-P Provincial AIDS Control Program (PACP) Chief Dr Sher Mohammad tells The Express Tribune that at present there are 868 AIDS patients registered with the authorities in K-P.

However, he says that the there have been two treatment centres in K-P — one at the Hayatabad Medical Complex and other in Kohat.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.