World Anti-Narcotics Day observed

In 2004, 29 intravenous drug users (IDUs) were found HIV positive out of 210 randomly tested in Larkana District prison, Sindh. Pakistan is, at present, concentrated epidemic country for HIV/AIDS. WHO/UNAIDS estimates that there are between 46,000-210,000 adult HIV positive cases in Pakistan. According to the National AIDS Control Programme surveillance report second quarter 2006, reported HIV positive cases are 3047 out which 783 are injecting drug users. A major epidemic has already been detected among injecting drug users in Karachi, 26 per cent of whom were found to be HIV-infected in 2004 (Ministry of Health Pakistan, 2005). When tested just seven months earlier, the same community had only one HIV-positive case.