Injecting HIV into Pakistan

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-01-240314.html



Injecting HIV into Pakistan
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Mar 24, '14

PESHAWAR - Pakistan may have a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, with only about 9,000 officially confirmed cases, but the country is at high risk, particularly due to the growing number of injecting drug users (IDUs), say experts. Of the country's 180 million people, 420,000 are IDUs, according to the Drug Use in Pakistan survey conducted last year.

"IDUs contract HIV by sharing infected syringes. We are afraid that HIV/AIDS can spread to the general population through them," said Syed Mohammad Javid, manager of the National AIDS Control Program (NACP).

He said the easy availability of heroin from nearby Afghanistan, where large swathes of land are under poppy cultivation, has become a pressing problem for Pakistani cities. Peshawar, capital of the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is one such place.

"Twenty percent of IDUs have tested positive for HIV/AIDS in Peshawar, which is alarming," he said, citing a study conducted by the Canadian International Development Agency in collaboration with the NACP in 2010.

[get the red out]

1. Disturbing!

Makes sense that heroin from Afghanistan would cause problems for it's neighbors though.