In KP around 8,000 HIV infected people accessing antiretroviral therapy at family care centers, said officials
PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has made HIV/AIDS screening test compulsory for patients prior to undergoing major surgery at the public sector hospitals.
Screening of patients visiting the government-run hospitals will be taken and separate procedures will be applied if they showed HIV symptoms.
Until now, it was not necessary to conduct HIV/AIDS tests before surgery in all public and private healthcare facilities of the province.
Director General (DG) health Dr Shaukat Ali said in view of the rising ratio of AIDS cases across the province, prompted the health department to make screening mandatory in hospitals.
He reiterated that screening would help detect the quantum of the infection among the people and would facilitate undertaking of necessary public health measures.
The health department has instructed all district health officers and medical superintendents to ensure screening of HIV/AIDs of all patients undergoing major surgical procedures to arrest the increasing trend of contracting the virus.
DG health KP said that screening would help health professionals to use separate surgical instruments for patients diagnosed with HIV virus, adding that special operation theaters for HIV-AIDS victims would be provided for the patients before undergoing major surgeries in government-run hospitals.
According to him, in KP HIV screening has now become part of the pre-screening for all patients undergoing surgeries.
According to the Integrated Hepatitis, HIV and Thalassemia Control Programme (IHHTCP) report, at present, there are more than 10,000 confirmed HIV cases in KP, while independent sources fear that unconfirmed HIV/AIDS positive cases would exceed 35,000. Around 8,000 of them are getting treatment, known as Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), at Family Care Centers (FFCs) of the province.
A senior official at IHHTCP said on the condition of anonymity that the available data shows that Lower Dir, Bannu, and Peshawar districts have become hotspots for HIV/AIDS in the province.
Data shows that most of the people who contracted HIV/AIDS in Bannu, Lower Dir, and Peshawar districts are mainly due to MSM, MST, and man sex with adolescence or child workers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), HIV is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection. HIV infects and kills white blood cells that fight infection in the body.
An estimated 38 million people are living with HIV (including 1.7 million children), with a global HIV prevalence of 0.8% among adults. Globally, 690 thousand people have died due to AIDS-related illnesses so far. The National AIDS Control Program reported that in Pakistan an estimated 0.2 million people are living with HIV, 8262 people newly infected with HIV from January to September 2022, yet only 53,718 are registered.
