Thirty years of HIV in Pakistan: a systematic review of prevalence and current scenario. (October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ali, Muhammad; Nadeem, Muhammad; Numan, Muhammad; Khalil, Ali Talha; Maqbool, Khurram; Yousaf, Muhammad Zubair; Shinwari, Zabta Khan; Idrees, Muhammad
• Is Part Of: Future virology. Volume 12:Number 10(2017)
• Page Start: 609
• Page End: 623
• Publication Date: 2017-10
• Subjects: HIV -- infectious diseases -- injection drug users -- Pakistan -- prevalence; Virology -- Periodicals; Virus diseases -- Treatment -- Periodicals; 616.9101
• DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2017-0009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0794

Abstract

Aim: HIV infection was first reported in Pakistan in 1987. Since then it has been a point of concern in the country.Materials & methods: We searched the literature on HIV in Pakistan using different keywords in Google, Pubmed, PakMediNet and GoogleScholar, and found a total of 64 articles dating from 1987 to 2016.Results: Total 4, 882, 450 individuals from Pakistan have been screened for HIV since last 30 years. The estimated overall prevalence was 0.041% (95% CI: 0.0–6.79). The highest infection rates of 15.05% (SE = 4.27%) were observed in injection drug users, followed by refugees (2.63%), sex workers (2.21%) and prisoners (1.32%).Conclusion: Awareness and medical surveillance programs in the high-risk population are required to decrease future burden of HIV in Pakistan.