Why HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness in Pakistan?

Women now account for nearly 50 per cent of all HIV/AIDS infections worldwide. Among people under the age of 24 living with the disease, two third are women. For biological reasons, women are about twice as likely as men to contract the HIV/AIDS virus through sexual intercourse.

In a conservative society like Pakistan, public discussion of HIV/AIDS is limited and the figures for clinical HIV/AIDS infection are unreliable. What is well known is that in this largely patriarchal structure, large numbers of women are denied education. Unable to access such essential information as the facts relating to their own sexual and reproductive health, women’s ability to protect themselves against the spread of HIV/AIDS is severely restricted. Yet, given the spread of the disease through drug abuse, prostitution and migrant workers, protection is essential.

Children and adolescents in Pakistan are no less at risk from HIV/AIDS infection than adults. Their distinct need is for clear guidance about the dangers of drug taking and unprotected sex. The most effective approach is through a broader discussion of human sexuality and its role in each individual’s physical and psychological development.

AMAL’s goal is to help eradicate the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS so that the most vulnerable to the disease cease to be the least informed. Working in partnership with other organizations established in the field, we see that our job as change agents has two objectives:

• to provide the best service delivery and education programmes for vulnerable groups
• to bring about a wider understanding of HIV/AIDS and its links to sexual and reproductive health, gender and employment issues in the community as a whole.