I was horrified to read that 6% of Afghan refugees in Pakistan are HIV positive! That is more than 1 in 20, the government needs to get rid of Afghan refugees in our country!
This is a disturbing article on the ticking HIV timebomb next door in Afghanistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/30/afghans-at-risk-of-infection-with-new-hiv-strain.html
KARACHI, Jan 29: Frequent travels, past displacement and current repatriation of millions of Afghans have put the Afghan population at risk of infection with novel, possibly drug-resistant strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and treatment for such infections may prove challenging for the development of effective vaccines and antiretroviral therapies, a recent study shows.
The study, Patterns of HIV infection among native and refugee Afghans, was aimed at characterising and comparing the HIV epidemics prevailing among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the native Afghans in Kabul.
It was conducted by the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University (AKU); Department of Microbiology, Dow University of Health Sciences, and Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University Programme, Kabul. It was published in a research journal, AIDS.
According to the study, transmigration of infected populations may result in transmission of new HIV-1 variants into the host population. Besides, intermixing of the pre-existing and newly transmitted HIV variant may give rise to novel circulating recombinant forms and subtypes.
“The intermixing of diverse HIV variants among Afghans may give rise to seeding of infections with rare HIV strains, which may pose a serious challenge for the treatment and control of infection,” the research says.
Referring to previous researchers, the study states that a six per cent prevalence of HIV among Afghan refugees in Pakistan has been observed with drug use being a common high-risk behaviour.
Samples for the research in Pakistan were obtained from patients attending antenatal clinics and free health camps organised by the Infection Control Society in Karachi. After initial screening of 556 samples, 29 HIV positive samples from the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and 11 from natives in Kabul were included in the study.
Use of inhaled and injected drugs, having multiple sex partners, homosexuality, contact with sex workers and travel abroad were reported as the high-risk behaviours among Afghan refugees.
The study also reveals associations between the study population of Afghan natives and refugees and identifies high-risk groups in Pakistan and Iran — another country where Afghan refugees are settled in large numbers.
Concentrated epidemics
The latest study is part of a series of research efforts on the prevalence of serious communicable diseases among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
Earlier, the AKU, the DUHS with the University of Karachi collaborated to produce a study, Concentrated epidemics of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C among Afghan refugees. It was published in Journal of Infection in 2010.
The study found a high presence of HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses in Afghan refugees as compared to the general population in Pakistan.