PESHAWAR: Like other parts of the world, participants at a seminar expressed concern over the rapidly increasing cases of HIV and stressed timely diagnose and treatment of the disease.
Aid control program s seminar was held in Peshawar on World AIDS Day. The seminar was organized by the non-governmental organization ‘Da Hawa lor’ and AIDS Control Program. Health experts expressed concern over the rapidly increasing cases of HIV and stressed on timely testing and treatment.
The biggest obstacle to the eradication of AIDS is social stigma and ignorance. CIO The Hawa Lor Khurshid Bano said. Sheh added that it was very important to remove misconceptions about HIV, so that people can get tested without fear. “We should hate the disease instead of the patient so that this disease can be eradicated. The reason for the increase in the number of HIV patients is social pressure and lack of information” Khurshid Bano remarked.
She added that the government should make HIV screening popular and must create awareness among the younger generation. The purpose of celebrating world AIDS Day is to spread awareness among the people. Jalal Khan Monitoring and Evaluation Officer AIDS Control Program said that last year, according to statistics, 32,000 people were living with HIV. “We have Currently, 8,000 people are undergoing treatment, this year 1,175 more infected people have been added”, Jalal Khan informed.
“The increase in patients is not a sign of danger, but a welcome one because people are coming for treatment, the number of people living with HIV is currently 39,702, which will reach 44,000 next year. He maintained that the number of infected people in the province, including the tribal districts, has reached 8,400. The highest number of HIV-infected patients in The province is 1,724 in Peshawar.
He said that 939 cases have been reported in Bannu, 437 in Swat, 427 in Mardan and 391 in Charsadda while 1,371 cases have been reported from the merged districts. He added that 354 cases were reported in North Waziristan, 286 in Khyber, 224 in Kurram and 218 in Bajaur. He underlined the reason as usafe blood transfusion, misuse of injecting drugs and lack of awareness are the major reasons for the increasing incidence of AIDS.
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