UNAIDS country director inaugurates HIV treatment centre at AKUH

Dr Mamadou Sakho, the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) country director for Pakistan and Afghanistan, on Friday inaugurated the HIV Testing, Treatment and Referral Centre at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and called for forging more alliances to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Pakistan, particularly Sindh.

“It is the right time for Pakistan to prevent the transfer of this disease from a small group to the general public. I urge Pakistani authorities, politicians, academia, media and healthcare providers to act now, otherwise they will rue a missed opportunity,” Sakho said while speaking at the ceremony.

The centre inaugurated at AKUH is the second testing and referral centre in Karachi and the third in Sindh. The other two are at Civil Hospital Karachi and Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana.

Anti-retroviral drugs and highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) would be available at the centre free of cost as they are provided by the global fund, but AKUH would be charging its consultancy and service fees from patients.

The UNAIDS country chief said that according to latest surveys, Sindh had half of the estimated number of patients in the country, while Karachi had the highest ratio of patients among its injection drug users (IDUs). 

“I urge everyone here to come out of the state of denial and break their silence. Create awareness about this menace and urge people to take precautions to protect themselves and their following generations from this deadly, incurable disease,” he stated.

Sakho informed the audience that there were around six million patients in South Africa, around three million in Nigeria and millions more in North and West Africa. He urged Pakistani authorities to save their country from a plight similar to the resource rich yet underdeveloped continent.

“Prevention is the only way to save a country like Pakistan from the destructive effects of AIDS. Apprise your people of its modes of transmission and urge them to take measures to protect themselves and others,” he urged.

He felicitated the AKUH and the national and provincial AIDS control programmes for establishing a model healthcare facility and advised them to continue partnerships in the public and private sectors. 

AKUH Chief Executive Officer Hans Kedzierski talked about the Netherlands’ experience of dealing with the disease when it was first reported in his country. “At the time, nobody knew what it was and how it could be dealt with. Today, though, it has become a manageable disease around the world.”

He said prevention was the key to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan and offered the AKUH’s support in conducting research to identify the cause of its prevalence, particularly in Sindh.

Dr Younus Chachar, programme manager for Sindh AIDS Control Programme (SACP), termed the inauguration of the centre at AKUH a milestone and said three similar facilities would be established at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Lyari General Hospital in Karachi.

Confirming that half of Pakistan’s estimated number of AIDS patients are in Sindh, he said there was an urgent need for creating awareness among the masses as well as providing them testing and treatment facilities. 

For this purpose, four more centres would be established in Sukkur, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad, he added.

He called on the AKUH to come forward and assist the SACP in conducting research on the modes of transmission, methods of prevention and how to effectively reach patients in the province.

The HIV Treatment and Referral Centre chief Prof Dr Bushra Jamil, Dr Faisal Mahmood, UNAIDS officials Dr Rajwal Khan, Dr Fahmida Iqbal Khan and Dr Sikandar from the SACP were also present on the occasion.