Alarming increase of HIV in Pakistan among intravenous drug users Fakhar Durrani A more than three-fold increase in HIV among intravenous drug users over the last eight years has alarmed public health officials in Pakistan. The number of drug users infected with HIV has increased from 11 per cent to 37 per cent during the last eight years. Azmat, aged 36, living in a slum in Islamabad who is a carpenter by profession typifies this trend. A heroin user for the last 14 years, he has no idea how he contracted HIV. He did not even realize it was a risk. “I started using drugs within six months of marriage because I loved a girl I could not marry. In order to forget her, I started using tranquilizers. When tranquilizers faile...
July 13, 2014 at 12:33 am | News Desk