LAHORE: Pakistan is on the verge of a breakout of AIDS, an epidemic that will be uncontrollable if not dealt with immediately.
A recent research report published by the Pakistan Journal of Medical Association revealed that AIDS as a disease is increasing. As per the statistics given by the National Aids Control Program the number of affected people by HIV Aids has gone up to 133,000.
The research found that the number of the people affected by Aids before 2017 was 97,000, meaning that the toll had increased by 36000 during the last year.
The researcher in an interview with BBC stated that this was an alarming situation as AIDS virus was decreasing in the Western world whereas it was increasing rapidly in Pakistan. The researcher claimed that the major reason of this outbreak was the lack of awareness among the people. Where in the western world, people use precautionary measures due to which they don’t pass the virus to others. Also there is a proper screening system in their healthcare system that helps diagnose the affected.
On the other hand, in the Pakistani society people are unaware about the disease or why it is caused because as per their mindset, they think that as Muslims they couldn’t have AIDS, claimed one of the researchers. They stated in the study that spreading awareness about AIDS was considered inappropriate, thus the majority of the population was not aware what the AIDS disease is.
As per the study, a small village near Jalalpur Jattan in the district of Gujrat revealed 75 cases of Aids virus victims. Whereas, in a village in Chiniot 40 such cases were discovered who were unaware of their disease and were transferring it to others unintentionally.
The research found that Aids had been increasing in many other Muslim states such as Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Health Department of Pakistan in the past years has allocated an amount of Rs 3 million and 71 lacs as funds to combat Aids through advocacy campaigns to create awareness among the people.
The researcher said that people don’t reveal the disease due to the shame linked to it, hence they don’t understand at what cost the virus is being spread. Unless and until there is awareness about Aids and HIV, it is impossible to control the disease in the near future.
