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World J Virol. May 12, 2017; 6(2): 46-48
Published online May 12, 2017. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v6.i2.46
Pakistan needs to speed up its human immunodeficiency virus control strategy to achieve targets in fast-track acquired immune deficiency syndrome response
Yasir Waheed, Hasnain Waheed
Yasir Waheed, Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, Islamabad 46000, Pakistan
Hasnain Waheed, Bridging Health Foundation, Rawalpindi 44000, Pakistan
Author contributions: Waheed Y designed study, did literature search, wrote and revised manuscript; Waheed H did literature search, wrote and revised manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors do not have any conflict of interest in publication of this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yasir Waheed, PhD, Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA Phase I, Islamabad 46000, Pakistan. yasir_waheed_199@hotmail.com
Telephone: +92-300-5338171
Received: November 8, 2016
Peer-review started: November 10, 2016
First decision: March 8, 2017
Revised: March 17, 2017
Accepted: April 6, 2017
Article in press: April 10, 2017
Published online: May 12, 2017
Processing time: 185 Days and 1.6 Hours
Abstract

In last fifteen years remarkable success in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is achieved globally. The number of HIV infections has decreased and the number of people on antiretroviral therapy is increased. This all is possible by strong political commitments and heavy investments in the fight against HIV. Pakistan is among few Asian countries in which HIV cases are increasing year by year since 1990. There are 94000 cases of HIV in Pakistan and only 14000 are registered with government. The main source of HIV infection in Pakistan is the use of contaminated injection equipment among people who inject drugs (PWID). The overall prevalence of HIV among PWID in Pakistan is 27.2%. There are five cities in Pakistan in which HIV prevalence is above 40% in PWIDs. In June 2016, United Nations political declaration on acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) provided a global mandate to fast-track the AIDS response over the next five years to achieve the targets in Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve the targets in fast-track AIDS response, the global leaders showed strong commitments to invest $ 26 billion per year by 2020. Pakistan needs to speed up its HIV control program. There is a dire need to locate all HIV positive people and enroll them in the treatment program. Pakistan also needs to calculate exact number of people living with HIV, increase HIV treatment centers and increase HIV awareness. Recently, Global Fund invested handsome money in the fight against HIV. Let’s hope the country will have effective HIV control strategy to achieve the HIV elimination target by 2030.

Keywords: Human immunodeficiency virus; People who inject drugs; Fast-track; Antiretroviral therapy

Core tip: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases are increasing day by day in Pakistan. Currently, the prevalence of HIV is less than 0.1% in general population while the scenario is totally different in people who inject drugs, having prevalence of 27.2%. Approximately 15% of HIV positive cases are enrolled with government for treatment. United Nations political declaration on acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) provided a global mandate to fast-track the AIDS response over the next five years to achieve the targets in Sustainable Development Goals. Pakistan needs to speed up its HIV treatment program to achieve the targets in fast-track AIDS response.