Karachi (HRNW) To maintain the privacy of patients, Sindh government on Monday announced launching a mobile application for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening test.
While addressing an awareness session on HIV at Karachi Press Club, Head of Communicable Disease Control Program of Sindh Health Department, Dr Ershad Kazmi, said that there are people who want to get tested for HIV but want to keep their identity in a veil.
So, this application is being launched for such persons to get tested with secrecy, he added.
Dr Ershad also said that efforts are being made to highlight health issues in curriculum, so that people are protected from such fatal diseases and able to take preventive measures.
According to UNAIDS report, the estimated number of HIV positive people in Pakistan is 0.21 million.
However, Dr Ershad said that 19,766 of the 90,300 HIV positive people are registered in Sindh and getting free treatment by the government.
He added that donors, unauthenticated blood banks, people using syringes and prostitutes are the cause of HIV spread.
The process of HIV screening had accelerated from thousands to millions, so that the patients get timely treatment in case of diagnosis.
At least 1,300 HIV infected transgender persons are in quandary besides health risk after the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Pakistan shut down its program related to prevention of the virus among the community members.
Some 1,500 transgender people were receiving treatment after getting counseled under the program as the disease is considered a stigma while 22 – who were part of the UNDP program in different capacities – have lost their jobs.
According to the data, 1,500 transgender persons were registered under UNDP HIV Program in Sindh. Some 1,300 were receiving treatment and 200 were being counseled.