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Country Profile

The first case of AIDS in a Pakistani citizen was reported in 1987 in Lahore. During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became evident that an increasing number of Pakistanis, mostly men, were becoming infected with HIV while living or traveling abroad. Upon their return to Pakistan, some of these men subsequently infected their wives who, in some cases, passed along the infection to their children. In 2007, UNAIDS estimated the number of people living with HIV in Pakistan to be 96,000, up from 51,000 reported in 2001. Of this number, women comprised 27,000 (or 28%). HIV prevalence remains at 0.1% [1].   Pakistan is facing a concentrated epidemic amongst injecting drug users (IDUs) with HIV prevalence above 5% amongst IDUs in three of the four provinces [2].

The risk factors for spread of HIV [2] in the country include: low levels of condom use amongst male and female sex workers and transgender; inadequate blood transfusion screening and high level of professional donors; large numbers of migrants and refugees; unsafe medical injection practices; low levels of literacy and education; and vulnerability due to social and economic disadvantages.

Sources:

[1] WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF. Epidemiological fact sheet on HIV and AIDS: Pakistan , July 2008
[2] The World Bank. The World Bank in South Asia: HIV & AIDS in Pakistan , August 2008