Earlier, the people of Afghanistan were wriggling under the tyrannical rule of Taliban and Al-Qaeda and then came the American-led ‘war against terror’, which further exacerbated their lives. However, during Taliban regime there was one thing that people of Afghanistan could boast of. This was HIV/AIDS free Afghanistan but now this horrific disease is slowly but steadily encroaching upon the people of Afghanistan, which is quite a deplorable issue.
Afghanistan is deeply a religious country where sex except marital partner is illegal but even then, this deadly virus has somehow managed to sprout here. So, the question arises, how?
The answer of this question lies mainly in its demographic condition. As we know, Afghanistan is encircled by countries like Russia, China, India and Pakistan, which are known to have higher percentage of patients with HIV/AIDS. Moreover, countries like Pakistan and Iran where there is high levels of drug addiction, increases people’s vulnerability to HIV transmission knowingly or unknowingly, giving the gift of HIV/AIDS to the people of Afghanistan, as diseases, pandemics know no borders. Expressing the similar view, experts say:
AIDS can easily cross borders, carried by migrants or refugees who pick up drug habits or have sex with infected people in those countries and return home. Rates of drug addiction are rising in Afghanistan, with its booming opium and heroin trade.
Secondly, social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is another factor, which encourages people to hide the symptoms of this disease. This very social stigma is preventing the people of Afghanistan from talking about the causes and repercussions of this deadly virus. As a result, the billow of awareness has failed to reach the masses, increasing people’s susceptibility to HIV/AIDS.
Normally, HIV/AIDS is associated with unsafe or immoral sex practices, which I think is one of the factors behind this much of rise in HIV cases. People should be made aware about the fact that HIV virus may slip into one’s body through other ways too like a person could be infected if he is transfused infected blood or if he uses infected syringe. And as an estimate of World Health Organization (WHO) states that even after five years of international assistance to the health sector, only 30 percent of blood used in transfusions in hospitals is screened for HIV, shows that how incapable health sector of Afghanistan is in preventing people from HIV transmission.
In brief, it could be asserted that in order to save the people of Afghanistan from the wrath of HIV/AIDS there needs to be a well-woven strategy, including public awareness campaign so that influx of this deadly virus could be kept at bay from the people of Afghanistan.
Via: NY Times
