PESHAWAR (Kashmir English): Nearly 40,000 people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province are currently living with HIV/AIDS, while 15 to 20 new cases are being reported on a daily basis, provincial health officials revealed on World AIDS Day on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Dr. Tariq Hayat Taj, Director of the Provincial AIDS Control Program, said that the province has around 9,800 HIV registered HIV patients. However, he said, the actual number is far higher as many people avoid testing due to social stigma and society’s discriminatory behaviour.
“Due to the harsh attitudes in society, many patients feel afraid to undergo a test,” Dr. Tariq said, stressing that this reluctance is fuelling virus spread silently.
He warned that quack doctors, illegal street clinics, and the repeated use of syringes remain among the biggest causes behind rising cases.
He asked the Health Regulatory Authority to take decisive action against illegal health service providers.
HIV is no longer untreatable
He said HIV is no longer untreatable, adding patients in the province are being provided free medicines and lifelong treatment by the government. “Multiple use of syringes also leads to spread of the virus,” he cautioned.
According to UN estimates, around 40,000 people in KP and 330,000 across Pakistan are living with HIV, a figure that health officials describe as ‘highly alarming’.
During vaccination drives in hotspots such as Iqbal Plaza in Peshawar, 197 transgender individuals tested positive for HIV, Dr. Tariq said adding this was deeply distressing. He said all affected individuals are now receiving treatment.
He further said the virus does not spread only through sexual contact, but also through the use of infected needles, unsterilised equipment at barbershops and beauty salons, and other unsafe practices.
In KP, about 60% of HIV patients are men, 30% women, and 10% transgender individuals,” he said, adding, drug users top the list of vulnerable groups, followed by transgender communities and sex workers.
UNICEF Health Specialist Dr. Inamullah Khan has appealed the public to treat people living with HIV with dignity. “These patients deserve compassion, not discrimination. They are already relying on the mercy of God and society must not isolate them,” he said.
