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AIDS spreading fast in Pakistan
- Thread starter Rage
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AIDS spreads fast in Pakistan: report
From: English_Xinhua
2009-12-01 15:41:48
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- There are 6,000 registered cases and 97,400 estimated cases of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan in 2009, and this figure is continuously increasing, local newspaper reported Tuesday.
Pakistan, which was previously thought as a country with low prevalence of infection, has now moved up to the group of "Countries in Transition" with a concentrated epidemic among high risk groups, where the AIDS problem is increasing since last five years, according to the private newspaper The News.
It was reported that there were 5,000 registered cases and 80,000 estimated cases of HIV/AIDS in 2008 in Pakistan. If proper screening is carried out, the number of infected persons might be running in millions, the newspaper said.
"Curiosity about sex and drugs, negative peer pressure, and economic frustration might all lead young people to engage in behaviors which could lead to HIV infection," Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry, head of Community Medicine at Islamabad Medical & Dental College, told reporters in connection with World AIDS Day which isbeing observed Tuesday across the world.
There are serious risk factors in Pakistan that put the country in danger of facing a rapid spread of HIV, such as widespread poverty, significant power imbalances in men and women, labor migration, lack of any system to check the HIV positive deported persons, indiscriminate transfusion of unscreened blood, rising number of drug addicts and low condom use rates.
Chaudhry said that injecting drugs users (IDUs), as well as male sex workers are the key drivers. "In 2005-2006, only 9 percent of the IDUs tested were found to be HIV positive, this percentage increased to 15.8 percent in 2006-2007, and more than 20 percent in 2007-2008," he added.
According to sources, Pakistan's National AIDS Control Program(NCP) is providing free treatment to any person found to be suffering from AIDS through its 20 AIDS Treatment Centers all over the country.
World AIDS Day, observed each year on Dec. 1, is dedicated to raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It provides an opportunity to express solidarity and support for those living with HIV/AIDS, and to ensure that pandemic is kept on the national and international agenda.
AIDS spreads fast in Pakistan: report _English_Xinhua
From: English_Xinhua
2009-12-01 15:41:48
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- There are 6,000 registered cases and 97,400 estimated cases of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan in 2009, and this figure is continuously increasing, local newspaper reported Tuesday.
Pakistan, which was previously thought as a country with low prevalence of infection, has now moved up to the group of "Countries in Transition" with a concentrated epidemic among high risk groups, where the AIDS problem is increasing since last five years, according to the private newspaper The News.
It was reported that there were 5,000 registered cases and 80,000 estimated cases of HIV/AIDS in 2008 in Pakistan. If proper screening is carried out, the number of infected persons might be running in millions, the newspaper said.
"Curiosity about sex and drugs, negative peer pressure, and economic frustration might all lead young people to engage in behaviors which could lead to HIV infection," Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry, head of Community Medicine at Islamabad Medical & Dental College, told reporters in connection with World AIDS Day which isbeing observed Tuesday across the world.
There are serious risk factors in Pakistan that put the country in danger of facing a rapid spread of HIV, such as widespread poverty, significant power imbalances in men and women, labor migration, lack of any system to check the HIV positive deported persons, indiscriminate transfusion of unscreened blood, rising number of drug addicts and low condom use rates.
Chaudhry said that injecting drugs users (IDUs), as well as male sex workers are the key drivers. "In 2005-2006, only 9 percent of the IDUs tested were found to be HIV positive, this percentage increased to 15.8 percent in 2006-2007, and more than 20 percent in 2007-2008," he added.
According to sources, Pakistan's National AIDS Control Program(NCP) is providing free treatment to any person found to be suffering from AIDS through its 20 AIDS Treatment Centers all over the country.
World AIDS Day, observed each year on Dec. 1, is dedicated to raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It provides an opportunity to express solidarity and support for those living with HIV/AIDS, and to ensure that pandemic is kept on the national and international agenda.
AIDS spreads fast in Pakistan: report _English_Xinhua
johnee
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Do we need a separate thread to discuss this, cant this be adjusted in some existing sticky pakistani thread, where it could result in more discussion, also it could be linked to other news, so that proper analysis of Pakistan's present condition can be done.
proud_hindustani
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Pakistanis insults us that our country has high number of aids victim. Now look at their country..
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I want this to have the glory of its own thread. You will see why in a few days, as I intend to post articles and figures highlighting the gravity of this issue, thus serving my 'commitative' function.
The thread also serves a 'utilitative' function, in that I don't want the issue mixed up with other comments, in ways that could detract or meander around the topic.
The case also serves as a case-study for India, which has cut its AIDS prevalence significantly in comparison to Pakistan where the disease is beginning to assume virulent proportions. Also serves to debunk propaganda, because just a few years ago the pakistanies harped on India having the "highest AIDS rate" as a tool to justify the social inadequacy of India's economic growth in the face of their own dismal economic performance. Clearly, if these, and UNO reports are any indication, the tables have turned.
Also useful from the perspective of providing a theoretical or spatial model, with similar cultural and ethnocentric preferences, to evaluate the feasibility of state-induced and state-mandated programs.
johnee
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^^In that case, I request you to cross post those future articles and the present one in a pakistani thread as well. It would be archived there better and also, the broader consequencies can be discussed there while here only this issue could be highlighted. wat say?
