‘HIV-positive people can live healthy lives, marry and have kids’

By M. Waqar Bhatti
December 05, 2022
Representational image of a needle test. — AFP/File

People infected with HIV can live healthy and normal lives, they can marry and even have children, but all they have to do is take their medicines regularly after becoming aware of their HIV status, officials and experts said on Saturday.

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“HIV is now a treatable disease, and people infected with HIV can live normal, healthy lives, they can marry and even have children,” Communicable Disease Control (CDC) Sindh Additional Director Dr Ershad Kazmi told the participants of an awareness walk at Sea View on Saturday.

“All they have to do is be aware of their status, and if they’re infected, take their medicines regularly like patients of other chronic diseases, including diabetes and hypertension.”

The awareness walk organised by Sindh’s CDC Directorate for HIV/AIDS was attended by volunteers, representatives of community-based and non-governmental organisations working on harm reduction in high-risk groups, including people who inject drugs and the transgender community, students and others to mark World AIDS Day 2022.

Dr Kazmi said prevention is cure, so people should take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their loved ones from contracting HIV. He advised that people at high risk of contracting HIV should know their HIV status.

“If any person is found infected with HIV, they can still live a normal, healthy and productive life, they can also get married and have children.” He said the directorate is taking all proven practical actions needed to address the inequalities and to help end AIDS. These include increasing the availability, quality and suitability of services for HIV treatment, testing and prevention so that everyone is well-served, he added.

“More than 1.1 million HIV tests have been carried out from January to October 2022 by the directorate, while we also launched PrEP, a game changer HIV prophylaxis, in June. This is a preventive medicine that can protect a person from HIV exposure for a day or two.”

Dr Kazmi maintained that strategic HIV advocacy and awareness campaigns have been launched by them to encourage the general population, especially the youth, to get tested for HIV.

Similarly, he said, a new HIV treatment centre has been inaugurated at the Ziauddin Hospital Karachi, while the Nawabshah centre has been upgraded to include paediatric HIV and PPTCT (prevention of parent to child transmission) services.

The Sanghar centre is scheduled to be inaugurated this month, while the Liaquat National Hospital Karachi centre will also be opened this month, he added. He pointed out that Karachi recently signed the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities Ending the HIV Epidemic, saying that 46 per cent of the people living with HIV in Sindh are from Karachi, adding that they are also introducing self-testing in vulnerable communities and high-risk groups.

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