African Journal of Virology Research

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 3421-7347 Vol. 2 (2), pp. 133-134, February, 2008. © International Scholars Journals

Review

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan

Syeda Samra Iqbal Jaferi, Muhammad Ilyas and Muhammad Idrees

Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore Pakistan.

*Corresponding   author.    E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]. Tel: +92-300-5740568.

Accepted 22 December, 2008

Abstract

The estimated number of HIV patients in Pakistan is ~80,000 that is about 0.1% of the adult population of the country. Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS seems to be low but still the country is at high risk as the potential for a widespread epidemic is high due to contamination risk factors common in this country like other countries with high HIV prevalence. These risk factors include, low literacy, poverty, high fertility, low contraception uptake and poor access to health and education. This current review establishes the presence of HIV among all four provinces of Pakistan and further necessitates detailed behavioral study for risk assessment in subpopulation. The society in general needs to debate the issues through conferences, seminars, workshops and media for enhancing awareness.