Time for anti-AIDS steps: Nafis Sadik

Dr Nafis Sadik, special envoy of the UN secretary-general, said Bangladesh needs timely investment in preventive measures to maintain low HIV and AIDS prevalence.

She was speaking at a press conference yesterday in the city.

She noted that despite low prevalence of HIV /AIDS, less than one per cent among sex workers, Bangladesh is a high-risk country for many reasons.

The population age structure is extremely vulnerable to HIV, she said. There are thirty million people below the age of twenty years, and there is evidence that young people are experimenting with commercial sex and multiple partners. Yet, it is generally believed that only a few segments of the population are at risk of HIV, she added.

Moreover, the low level of knowledge of the general population makes it difficult to create awareness about AIDS. Only 19 per cent of ever-married women and 33 per cent of currently married men had heard of AIDS. High infection rates among the drug users and unsafe blood transfusion are among the basic modes of HIV transmission, she added.

Dr Sadik pointed out that a large number of Bangladeshi citizens are vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, since they are working as peacekeepers in many countries with a high HIV prevalence rate. Also the close proximity to India, Myanmar and Thailand and the associated migration between them, make Bangladesh vulnerable to an HIV epidemic, she added.

Proper measures should be adopted to prevent prevalence of HIV, considering the risk factors. Education on reproductive health, culture and religion can reduce the risk, she said.

"People infected with HIV do not come forward to seek help since they think they will be stigmatised," said Dr. Sadik. "It is society that should extend help to the victims by not condemning them."

She also stressed the need for rehabilitating the HIV infected people.