Web Desk(December 1, 2017): AIDS Day is being marked today throughout the world to create awareness. The World AIDS Day is one of the eight official global public health campaigns. It is estimated over 36 million people globally are living with HIV/AIDS.
“Today, AIDS is still one of the greatest public health challenges faced by low and middle-income countries. There are 36.7 million individuals living with AIDS in the world, out of which 2.1 million are children less than 15,” Dr Faisal said.
“A patient is diagnosed with AIDS when the patient’s CD4 count falls below the defined threshold. The development of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) marks the latest advancement in the treatment of HIV due to which HIV positive patients can now expect to lead a long and healthy life.”
Discussing symptoms, he explained that AIDS include consistent weight loss, skin diseases, and repeated occurrence of infections such as pneumonia.
Dr Sultan emphasised on public awareness about the transmission of HIV such as avoiding used syringes, transfusion of blood that is not screened, and unprotected sex.
“This potentially fatal disease exists in almost every country. HIV is mainly transmitted through blood and sexual intercourse, however, today, the advancement in medicine has helped in controlling it to a great extent”, he added.
According to the National AIDSControl Programme, Pakistan has about a 130,000 patients suffering from AIDS .”
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