World AIDS Day marked: Preventive measures suggested to avoid HIV

MARDAN: Speakers at a workshop arranged at the Mardan Medical Complex (MMC) on Monday said contracting HIV/AIDs could be avoided by adopting preventive measures and raising awareness.

The Family Care Centre in collaboration with the Department of Medicine and Gynaecology Department had organized the workshop and an awareness walk to mark “World AIDS Day”.Prof Dr Muhammad Fazil, Dr Shazeb, Dr Naila, Dr Zainab Wali, Dr Khadija Ijaz spoke at length about the virus, its transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, management and treatment, etc.

Psychologist Dr Zainab Wali said that the virus could be transmitted through blood transfusion, practicing unsafe sex, sharing needles from surgical equipment and from the infected mother to her fetus.

She said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through eight Family Care Centres across the province was providing free screening, counseling and treatment services to HIV and thalassemia patients.

Prof Dr Muhammad Fazil said the disease was preventable and could be avoided by adopting preventive practices.The focal person for HIV at MMC, Assistant Professor Dr Shah Zeb said there were two types of the Virus HIV1 and HIV2.

He said that 38.4 million people across the globe were suffering from the virus, adding the number of total HIV patients in Pakistan was 210,000 in 2021 and 53,718 patients were registered with National AIDS Control Programme.

The focal person said that this year alone 9,773 new HIV-positive cases were reported in the country in the last 10 months.He said that presently there were 6,364 registered HIV patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding the number was growing for a lack of awareness about the infection and its causes.