Lack of awareness and stigma contributes to spread of AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, HIV/AIDS, is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans and similar viruses in other species (SIV, FIV, etc.). The late stage of the condition leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist to decelerate the virus' progression, there is currently no known cure.

Low levels of awareness about HIV/AIDS and the social stigma associated with the disease are contributing to its spread in Pakistan. Recently a nation wide campaign has been launched to educate the masses about the disease and its preventions. Massive participation is required for reducing the stereotypes and stigma attributed to this disease. Numerous researches have been conducted in order to device efficient and effective strategies and to know what is the level of awareness among the local people.

According to an online news report, "the rate of HIV prevalence in Pakistan is 0.1 percent. The number of cases increasing among high-risk groups -- such as the country's 150,000 injection drug users and men who have sex with men." In addition, the stigma associated with these populations has kept most people from reporting their HIV-positive status. About 3,700 HIV/AIDS cases have been registered officially in the country since 1986, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN AIDS say that there are about 200,000 cases. The World Bank also says that limited surveillance and voluntary HIV/AIDS counselling and testing services, combined with a lack of education among health professionals and the general population, are contributing to the spread of the disease.

A survey released by the Punjab AIDS Control Programme found that 87 percent of people in eight districts of Punjab had heard of HIV. Twenty-six percent of respondents said that they were aware that HIV can be transmitted through risky sexual behaviour; 23 percent said that they knew that HIV can be transmitted by reusing needles; six percent said that they knew that blood transfusions pose a risk; and four percent said that they knew that condoms help prevent HIV. Some advocates have launched media campaigns and lobbied government officials in the country to help promote HIV/AIDS awareness. The government has adopted new awareness targets that seek to reach 25 percent of the population in each high-risk group including commercial sex workers and trans-gendered people by the end of 2007, with an ultimate target of 60 percent by 2010.

Akbar Babar, a private consultant who carried out the Punjab study, said that increased resources are needed to conduct an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in the country. "We all know awareness campaigns are expensive, electronic media is expensive, but extremely poor levels of awareness about HIV and its transmission routes should convince policymakers that we need to allocate a lot more (resources) so that the media reports can be more intense," he said, calling for a significant boost in funds, particularly for television.

HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns

Without medical intervention, an HIV-infected woman has about a one-in-four chance of giving birth to an HIV-infected baby. However, as a direct result of HIV testing and preventative therapies, the risk of HIV transmission from mothers to their infants in the United States has been dramatically reduced to less than two percent. The Foundation strongly believes we must continue to work toward further reductions in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. As recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the Foundation endorses the voluntary, routine, and universal HIV testing of pregnant women as a means of increasing testing rates and further reducing transmission from a mother to her newborn.

Pediatric AIDS Organization Helps Launch Boane Clinic on World AIDS Day to Prevent and Treat HIV in Children and

Boane, Mozambique—A new health clinic opened today with support from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation will help HIV prevention and care and treatment services reach thousands more families in Mozambique.
Foundation President and CEO Pamela W. Barnes spoke at the new outpatient clinic’s inauguration on the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Guests of honor included the governor of Maputo province, Mrs. Telmina Pereira, the administrator of Boane district, Cremilde de Costa Xavier, the chief medical doctor in Boane, Stelio de Mande, and the directors for Mozambique of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In her remarks, Barnes highlighted the progress the Foundation has witnessed in Mozambique. She also noted the continued need to reach mothers with services to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies, and to provide care and treatment for infected children and their families. The pandemic continues to grow in Mozambique, where currently there are more than 73,000 children living with HIV.

“Once a child is receiving treatment, it is equally important to ensure that the mother will survive to raise her child, and the family remains strong,” Barnes said in her remarks. “The best medicine you can have for any child is a healthy mother and father to take care of that child.”

The Health Center in Boane, a district referral hospital outside the capital, Maputo, previously had very little space for counseling and treatment, as well as little privacy. The Foundation has helped construct three buildings with funds from the CDC and USAID to provide the new health clinic with space for services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), care and treatment, and a children’s clinic.

“The new facilities should encourage more patients and their families to come forward for HIV testing, counseling, and treatment,” said Ellen Warming, the Foundation’s country director for Mozambique, who was also in attendance.

The Foundation began working in Boane in 2006. To date, its PMTCT program has tested 1,699 pregnant mothers in the center for HIV, and has provided medicine to prevent HIV transmission to 191 newborns. There are 1,503 patients receiving care and treatment through the center, with 415 patients receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART), 37 of whom are children, and 7 of whom are pregnant mothers. The Foundation also trains community leaders, traditional birth attendants, and religious leaders to support families and ensure they come back for livesaving medicine and support.

The clinic opening ceremony was one of many pediatric advocacy events in Mozambique around World AIDS Day to inform the population about the availability of PMTCT and care and antiretroviral treatment for children and their families. The Foundation worked with each province and a total of 12 different community-based organizations to develop a range of activities in health facilities and public venues. Activities included debates led by mothers living with HIV/AIDS, educational theater, dance, song, film, games, sports, cultural events, and donations of toys and presents for children.

The Foundation began its collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Mozambique in 2004 by providing PMTCT services, and expanded to HIV care and treatment in 2006. As of September, the Foundation has provided more than 141,000 women in Mozambique with access to critical PMTCT services. It has also enrolled more than 20,300 adults and children into care and support programs, approximately 6,500 of whom have been initiated on antiretroviral treatment, including 310 children.

In Mozambique, the Foundation’s PMTCT program is funded by USAID through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and its care and treatment program is funded by the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through PEPFAR.