AIDS Destroying the Human Capital of Nations
By Dr. A. Khan
Chicago
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. The spread of AIDS not only reduces life expectancy of the population but also destroys the human capital of a nation.
AIDS has had a profound effect on society, especially in developing countries. It is estimated that 21 million (aids.org) to 32 million (USAID) people have died since the discovery of the disease. AIDS is exacting a devastating cost to adults and children around the world. AIDS rivals tuberculosis as the world's most deadly infectious disease. An estimated 32.4 million adults and 1.2 million children are presently infected with HIV around the world. Majority of children living with HIV - 9 out of 10 – live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region affected most by the AIDS Tsunami. A large number of children with HIV also live in the Caribbean, Latin America and South/South East Asia. The growing number of cases in the developing counties is very alarming and is adversely affecting the economies and social fabric of societies.
Unlike other diseases AIDS is passed directly to the children often during childbirth. Presently, there is no cure for the disease that strikes people who are often in the prime years of their lives. All over the globe parents are dying and children, who may or may not be infected, are often left without either parent. An estimated 900 babies in the developing world are infected with HIV every day because governments fail to reach pregnant women with prevention of mother-to-child transmission services.
India, the second most populous country of the world, has achieved another distinction. According to 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic (May 2006. UNADS), India has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the world, with 5.7 million cases being reported in 2006, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million. Among 15-49 year olds, an estimated 5.2 million are living with the disease, according to India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Considering India’s large population, a small increase in India’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate would represent a significant component of the world’s HIV/AID population. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, India “may be facing the world’s largest HIV/AIDS epidemic, at least in raw numbers.”
It has been projected that 20-25 million people could be infected with HIV/AIDS by 2010 in India alone. That estimate, however, could prove to be conservative. According to Greg Duke, Director General of the BBC, “The continued spread of HIV/AIDS in India, could, if not curbed, lead to as many as 50 million cases – almost equivalent to the population of the United Kingdom.” Should such a catastrophe occur, the results would be disastrous on a global scale.”
Moreover, the taboo nature of disease transmission in the Indian culture has made it very difficult to contain the disease. In this regard, the global fund’s website on India & HIV/AIDS, observes that “… Much of Indian society has treated its millions of HIV positive like modern-day ‘untouchables’; a reference to the stratified Hindu caste system which once condemned those born into the ‘lowly’ castes assigned the dirty jobs to live apart on society's fringes. The fear of being cast out is so strong that infected husbands often don't tell their wives, denying them the opportunity to take measures to prevent transmission of the disease, and opening the door for HIV/AIDS to wreak havoc on future generations as women who become pregnant unknowingly pass the disease on to their children".
According to the 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic (UNAIDS/WHO, July 2008) the estimates for HIV/AIDS infected population of adults and children in Pakistan fall in the range of 69,000-150,000. Decline of morality and spread of ultra liberal values in the youth of cosmopolitan urban areas in Pakistan and neighboring countries pose a serious threat to public health. Preventing HIV infection is much less expensive than caring for the people who are already infected. In Pakistan, the policy makers and the NGOs ought to combat the spread of the disease by adopting aggressive policies by:
• Using new and emerging technologies such as molecular/DNA/protein diagnostic tests to quickly and accurately diagnose AIDS.
• Educating religious, cultural, and political leadership, and public about the nature of disease and prevention strategies.
• Using new needleless drug and vaccine delivery techniques to prevent cross contamination.
• Raising public awareness about the risk of HIV.
• Improving screening processes for blood transfusion.
• Testing passengers arriving from AIDS prevailing areas.
• Targeting high risk groups to promote behavior modification.
