The Continuous Medical Education Department of Jinnah Sindh Medical University organized an awareness session on HIV-AIDS in collaboration with the Communicable Disease Control (HIV-AIDS) with the purpose of providing complete and comprehensive information related to HIV-AIDS to medical students and future doctors.
In this regard, Vice-Chancellor Professor Amjad Siraj Memon said that being HIV positive does not necessarily mean that the infected person is an AIDS patient.
It may take 9 to 10 years for the HIV virus to develop into AIDS and during this time the infected person can lead a normal life. It is also possible that the virus does not develop into AIDS.
Dr Saima Mushtaq Sheikh, Provincial Treatment Coordinator of Communicable Disease Control (HIV-AIDS) of Health Department Sind and guest speaker of the session, said that according to statistics, so far 79.3 million people have been infected with HIV worldwide.
Of these, 36.3 million people have died due to AIDS, this virus is diagnosed in 1.5 million people worldwide every year and 6 lakh 80 thousand people die, which is an average of 1800 deaths per day.
In Pakistan, she further said, HIV prevalence is estimated to be less than 1% in the general population, with 165,000 HIV-positive people. “If a doctor or nurse mistakenly gets an injection while treating a patient, instead of panicking, he/she should wash the area with water and consult a doctor within 72 hours”, she added.
