Role of Therapeutic Injections
A major factor that must be accounted for in the overall HIV transmission scenario is the rampant use of therapeutic injectons, often with non-sterile injection equipment. There are an estimated 800 million therapeutic injections given annually in Pakistan or approximately 4.5 per capita. This is among the highest in the World. A small but significant proportion of these are reused. This has led to the prevalence of Hepatitis C infection (which is nearly exclusively transmitted via blood exposures) to become >5% nationwide, although this seems to have stabilized at a national level. Conservatively this suggests around 150,000 new HCV infections annually, leading to the conclusion that HIV can also potentially spread via this route as well. Indeed recent community based outbreaks in Punjab suggest that the process may have already started.
Read more about this topic: HIV/AIDS In Pakistan
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