The Ministry of Health has reported that there are 1,327 cases of HIV AIDS registered in Afghanistan. Mostly an epidemic among drug users, 70 percent of them are males, 25 percent females, and five percent are children. Majority of cases have been reported in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat provinces.
Worldwide, there are 34 million people suffering from HIV and 36 million patients have lost their lives. Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. Around half of the infected HIV people are killed by AIDS before they are 35.
Every year 1st December is marked as World AIDS Day since 1988. HIV infected people around the world are growing day by day despite the intense campaign to prevent it. Majority of infected people even do not know about the dangers they are faced with. Discrimination and stigma against HIV persons still prevails in countries with most HIV infected people.
Afghanistan is increasingly facing an HIV epidemic. Three decades of wars, mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and Iran and now their return, illiteracy and lack of awareness, stigma and discrimination are the prime factors. The actual number of HIV infected people is far more than the official statistics of Health Ministry.
According to official records, the first HIV deaths were registered in May 2008 when a father and his two children passed away due to HIV. And 66 per cent HIV cases were due to used syringes. Official record from just one province, Kandahar, shows the number of infected has doubled. In 2011 there were 11 cases registered, which has increased to 22 this year. Among them, 18 were males and three females who contracted the virus from their husbands. A Health Ministry official from the province says four people had reached a critical stage while three have died. All of the infection has been caused by use of syringes by drug addicts.
The prevailing reasons behind the increasing HIV epidemic in Afghanistan is injected drug use, shared syringe and contaminated blood transfers. World Health Organization has already warned high levels of intravenous drug use and unsafe blood transfusions could cause rapid spread of HIV in Afghanistan. After three decades of conflict and war, a large number of Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan have repatriated. Reports suggest that a significant number of infections have been spread by those returning with HIV virus. For instance, recently 88 Afghan refugees in Peshawar city of Pakistan alone had tested positive for HIV including 10 women. The infected people are aged between 25 and 45 years.
There is not an effective program particularly designed for Afghans returning from Iran or Pakistan. The UN and Government needs to make a strategy in this regard.
Lack of awareness, stigma and discrimination against the AIDS infected people are also major factors behind the increasing epidemic. All these make Afghanistan fertile for HIV epidemic. Drug users and sex workers are the most vulnerable groups of HIV affected people in Afghanistan. Being the largest poppy producing country in the world, there is large number of people taking drug. Lack of awareness and knowledge about HIV prevention is a big threat in this regard as most of these people—sex workers and drug addicts—do not know about the risks and causes of HIV.
According to MoPH, there are about 19000 drug addicts that use injection. Illiteracy also creates much problem in this regard. Besides the spread of HIV, lack of awareness also causes discrimination and stigma against infected people.
Majority of infections are reported in urban areas, mostly capital Kabul, Herat—bordering Iran—Mazar and Kandahar cities. Though there have been many programs to increase awareness among the adult populations in these cities with primary knowhow about HIV AIDS, however, there is a general belief that the virus only spreads through sexual intercourse. Very few common people are aware that usage of injection syringe by more than a person and some other reasons can also cause spread of the virus.
Due to cultural and traditional barriers, people are often reluctant to even talk about such issues. This social behavior is a big hurdle towards generating awareness about HIV AIDs. NGOs working on the issue face such problems from community where they do not allow awareness campaigns to talk about safe sex or related issues.
They would never like to send their adult daughters to such awareness programs. Other than that, a general religious misunderstanding and myth is common about HIV. Therefore, the most effective way to spread the word about HIV is to convince religious leaders (Mullahs) and community elders telling them about such serious issues.
Under the National AIDS Control Program Afghanistan National HIV/AIDS strategic Framework there are certain objectives for the Public Health Ministry. It aims at gaining political commitment and mobilizing resources necessary to implement the national HIV/AIDS/STI strategy.
Public awareness is the most effective way to generate awareness and prevent HIV epidemic. People from all walks of life are needed to play their due responsibility in this regard by spreading the word about the deadly HIV/AIDS.