48 more patients with HIV, AIDS registered at PIMS

Islamabad: The Centre for Treatment of AIDS at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has registered another 48 patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in last four months taking the total number of patients registered with the centre to 2,882.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Thursday has revealed that the PIMS centre for treatment and prevention of AIDS at PIMS that was established in 2005 by National Aids Control Programme has so far registered a total of 2,381 male patients and 429 female patients with HIV positive.

Since December 2017, the AIDS centre at PIMS has registered as many as 44 male patients and 11 female patients with HIV positive while no child patient or transgender with AIDS was taken to the PIMS in last five months.

Data also reveals that as many as 27 male child patients and 22 female child patients below 14 years of age had already been registered with AIDS centre at PIMS along with 21 patients having transgender status.

Out of a total 2,882 patients so far registered with the AIDS centre at PIMS, as many as 1,620 patients with HIV positive are on treatment for full blown AIDS at the PIMS centre, said Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja while talking to ‘The News’ on Thursday.

All the patients with HIV positive do not need antiviral treatment instead only the patients who have full blown AIDS are receiving the antiviral treatment of AIDS at the PIMS Centre, he said. He added the patients registered at PIMS mainly belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Fata, Aazd Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab including Jhelum and Gujarat.

It is pertinent to mention that AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. It can take 10-15 years for an HIV-infected person to develop AIDS. AIDS is the end-stage of HIV infection – usually person dies in six months. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for AIDS; however, antiretroviral drugs (ART) can slow down the progress and people with HIV can enjoy healthy and productive lives.

The PIMS administration claims that all the HIV positive patients registered with the PIMS are receiving free of cost treatment and investigations including PCR tests. Dr. Khawaja said the timing of AIDS clinic located near Medical OPD at the hospital is from 8:00a.m. to 2:00p.m.