A deadly disease: Musafirkhana miseries

Cheap hotels doubling as brothels lead to an increase in the number of AIDS patients in Larkana.

SUKKUR:

Mohammad Hashim Mirani, father of two, and an NGO worker, has been living for over five years with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, commonly known as AIDS. And yet, in a place like Larkana, where the disease is spreading fast, this 30-year-old man is another one to catch the dreadful disease.

“There are 500 registered AIDS patients in this city, and the number of unscreened and unregistered patients is much greater,” says Mirani.

According to estimates, the number of AIDS patients is on the rise fast, and many hold negligence of the district administration responsible for it. However, the police points fingers at Mirani and others like him who have contracted the disease through unsafe sex.

Hotel horrors

Thin looking but decently dressed and speaking with a steady voice, he talks about his life with AIDS. He says that so far, nothing gives him away as an AIDS patient apart from occasional bleeding from ears and nose.

According to Mirani, cheap hotels, known as musafirkhanas, are mainly responsible for the spread of the disease.

“At these musafirkhanas, one can have women, boys and transgenders for sex, most of them HIV positive,” he says. His wife and children are safe from the disease, so far.

Another guy suffering from AIDS is Saeed Ahmed, manager of one such Musafirkhana. He touts women, boys and transgender for sexual services.

He confessed to The Express Tribune that usually men who hire rooms bring along their companions. They are charged Rs300 to Rs400 per hour. “We do not ask our patrons to disclose their relationship with the women,” he says. “It is not our job.”

Ahmed has to make daily payments to the police in order to keep the business running smoothly.

Nadeem, a worker at the Musafirkhana, informs that many AIDS patients are drug addicts and overdose of injections often leads to death.

Another victim, Imdad Gopang, is nearing his end – his body is decaying, and he has been fired from his job at another Musafirkhana as he has grown too weak to work.

“These musafirkhanas are serving as hatcheries for AIDS,” he admonishes in a frail voice.

Larkana Assistant Superintendent of Police Tauqeer Ahmed, who has just taken over, promises to take action against such hotels.

Where’s the care?

According to Mirani, medical assistance for AIDS patients has considerably deteriorated.

“There is a clinic at the Chandka Medical College Hospital, which is supposed to provide medical help, test facilities, and counseling to HIV/AIDS patients. The clinic provided these services earlier, but is no more effective now,” he says, adding “The clinic in-charge is mostly absent, and the clinic administration seems reluctant to register HIV/AIDS patients because they think it is not good for their image.”

Many patients have lost their lives lately but the clinic has not been even updated its records.

Rashid Magsi, the coordinator of Shah Abdul Latif Society, says that his organisation provides counselling to patients.

And yet, while there are many NGOs working for the welfare of AIDS patients, their services seem to be declining, says Mirani.

“Earlier, these clinics would even provide rations to the ill  every month but now they do it every three to six months,” he claims. “HIV positive people are leading miserable lives, and a lot of them are infecting others to, with a vengeful spirit.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2013.