Combating HIV/Aids

For many years, Pakistan was in denial about the presence of Aids/HIV. Cultural conservatism and a generalised unwillingness to face reality meant that it got a head start rather than being headed off, and Aids/HIV is now present in every province to varying degrees but with a commonality of high-risk groups. The Sindh Aids Control Programme (SACP) has now presented its report for 2014, which states that there are 994 new Aids/HIV cases across the province, including 83 women and six children. The SACP director, commenting on the figures, said that the figures were a reflection of the efficiency of the monitoring and reporting system.

The picture that emerges is very much one that is mirrored across the world. Globally, there are now 35 million people living with HIV and 3.2 million of those are below the age of 15 years. The total estimated population of HIV patients for Pakistan is 106,000, a figure widely regarded as an underestimate. A significant factor in combating the disease is public awareness. Where such programmes have been implemented from sub-Saharan Africa to the developed nations of the West, the epidemic is proven to have slowed as public awareness rises and becomes an embedded part of the collective consciousness, particularly in respect of condom usage. The SACP has an ambitious one-billion-rupee project which will expand from the present tertiary care hospitals to basic health units even in remote areas. As with other public health initiatives where NGOs and government agencies work closely together, the release of funding is the bugbear. There are 11 NGOs working with the SACP to combat HIV but they have not had agreed funding released to them for the last three quarters, a significant impediment to effective countermeasures. The work of the SACP is much to be complimented. It is sensitive and difficult, but necessary if Aids/HIV is to be tackled head on. Burying our collective heads in the sand helps nobody, but honest ownership of the battle can work wonders. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th,  2014.

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