World AIDS Day: Increasing cases of HIV and AIDs among children and adolescents in Pakistan

Finia Hilmes

Pakistan & Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

On December 1, 2022, World AIDS Day, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his concerns over the rise in HIV and AIDS cases across the country and urged Pakistan’s health ministry to focus on awareness about testing, prevention and treatment (The News International, 2022).

According to data cited by health authorities in Islamabad, within the last ten months of this year, 9,773 people in Pakistan have tested positive for HIV which raised serious doubts in regard to current HIV prevention and control efforts (The News International, 2022). In fact, the authorities spoke about a rise in HIV cases which clearly indicates the spread of HIV (The News International, 2022).

World HIV Day, introduced by the World Health Organization in 1988, is observed every year on December 1 and aims at raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by HIV infection (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, n.d.).

In a tweet, prime minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that the increasing incidence of HIV and AIDS among children and adolescents is deeply concerning for him (The News International, 2022). Furthermore, he said that on World AIDS Day everyone should vow in order to end the stigma attached to HIV (The News International, 2022).

During the last eleven years, Pakistan has spent hundreds of millions of dollars from the Global Fund and other international donor agencies in order to contain and prevent the spread of HIV (The News International, 2022). Nevertheless, new infections are constantly on the rise (The News International, 2022).

According to UNAIDS, a substantial percentage of low-risk males, females, and clients of key populations are the newly infected ones suggesting an increase in HIV transmission to bridging populations such as spouses, partners, and clients of the key population (The News International, 2022).

Lastly, in specific regard to HIV in Pakistan, the renowned infectious diseases specialist and expert on HIV, Dr Faisal Mehmood, stated that one of the reasons for the increase in HIV cases as compared to the past is that millions are being done in the country alone (The News International, 2022).

Sources and further reading: 

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (n.d.). World AIDS Day. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.  Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/infectious-diseases-public-health/hiv-infection-and-aids/communication/world-aids-day.

The News International. (2022, December 1). Increase of HIV and AIDS among children, adolescents “deeply worrying”: PM. The News International. https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1015653-deeply-worrying-pm-shehbaz-expresses-concern-over-rise-in-hivaids-cases.

UNAIDS. (n.d.). Equalize - World AIDS Day 2022. UNAIDS. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.unaids.org/en/2022-world-aids-day.