Pakistani Government Says Nearly 100,000 HIV Cases in Country, Launches Expanded Education Program
The government of Pakistan has launched an HIV/AIDS education campaign for high school students and religious leaders amid reports that the estimated number of HIV-positive people in the country has reached nearly 100,000, Pakistan's Daily Times reports (Raza [1], Daily Times, 3/2). There are currently 235 reported HIV cases and 1,785 reported AIDS cases in the country, according to Dr. Asma Bukhari, national coordinator of the country's AIDS Control Program. However, government officials said that they believe there are an additional 70,000 to 80,000 unregistered HIV/AIDS cases, the Times reports. The country's HIV/AIDS program currently targets religious leaders, female health workers, teachers and opinion and policy makers. In addition, the program seeks to educate sex workers, men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women, injection drug users, long-distance truck drivers and young people ages 15 to 25 (Raza [2], Daily Times, 3/2). In an effort to better reach young people, the government has decided to offer HIV/AIDS education as an extracurricular subject in the country's high schools, Bukhari said (Raza [1], Daily Times, 3/2).
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