He said transport workers and migrant labourers were a source of the spread of
the infection across the country.
According to the National Aids Control Programme, majority of the HIV cases
were reported from those who were careless with their sexual life. The second
major source of the spread of the infection, it said, was the transmission of
infected blood.
The rest of the cases were caused by using infected injections, sexual
intercourse, and inheritance of the disease from mother to child. A report said
that origin of the infection in 35 percent cases was unknown but it was assumed
that unsafe sex was the cause behind these cases.
Inayatullah Khan, the NWFP health minister, said the government was working to
create awareness among masses against the disease. "HIV/AIDS could turn
alarming if proper preventive steps were not initiated," he said.
He said there was a need to end the trend of stigmatising discussions on the
disease. "We have to find out the real causes of the infection in our society
so that we could put in place preventive measures against the disease", he
said.
He said society had not yet accepted the disease as a problem, adding that care
was the only cure for the disease.
Dr Muhammad Zaffar, the provincial AIDS control programme manager, said a total
of 2309 HIV cases had been registered in the country - 2053 HIV positive and
256 full blown AIDS cases. He said the government had estimated that 70,000 to
80,000 people might have been infected by HIV.
"Sexual contact is considered the main reason of the spread of the disease
while infected surgical instruments, transfusion of unscreened blood and reuse
of syringes were also a source of the spread of the disease," he said.
Dr Zafar said 450 cases of HIV/AIDS had been registered in NWFP and tribal
areas, 57 of them were full blown AIDS cases while the rest were HIV positive.
"The estimated number of HIV/AIDS patients in the province may be between
10,000 to 15,000," he said. He said 60 to 70 percent patients belonged to
tribal areas.
He said the "enhanced HIV/AIDS control programme" had focused on reducing HIV
vulnerability in the society.
He said people were shy of exposing themselves as HIV patients because they
assumed that it was exclusively a sex-borne ailment, which was not the case,
adding that there had to be awareness about the disease in the society to
control it.
Dr Rajwal Khan, the provincial HIV/AIDS control programme officer, said a
doctor and a nurse had been trained in India to work in the Anti-Retroviral
Therapy Unit in the Hayatabad Medical Complex. He said the number of HIV cases
was low in the country because the disease was in its earliest stages and it
was also under-reported, adding that there was ignorance about the disease in
the society.
