Incidence of HIV infection amongst intravenous drug users in the Urban and Peri-Urban areas of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Illicit drug use has become an increasing public health and social concern in the past decades worldwide. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS, associated with intravenous drug use (IDU) and needle sharing to a large extent, has become one of most stunning tragedies in human history. A descriptive and analytical study was conducted to find out the human immunodeficiency virus/ (HIV) acquired immunodeficiency syndrome amongst the intravenous drug users (IDU’s). The data of intravenous drug users (IDU’s) was collected from DHQ hospital Kohat through questionnaire. A rapid test using Immuno chromatographic techniques (ICT) for HIV screening was done and the positive patients were referred for confirmatory diagnosis on PCR. Among the 105 injection drug users 100% were male with median age 32 years, of which 55.24% were married, in which majority of the drug users were illiterate (57.14%). 50.47% of the subjects were jobless. This disease is spreading continuously without knowing the extent of transmission; therefore, stringent strategies must be evolved and implemented for the prevention and control, otherwise with the alarming degree of propensity the AIDS in Pakistan may raise to higher proportion with higher endemicity ratio.