In war-torn Afghanistan, the number of AIDS cases is on the rise
In war-torn Afghanistan, the number of AIDS cases is on the rise
People in America have AIDS. I’ve heard of Africa having a high number of AIDS, but I thought people would like to know, it’s in Afghanistan, too.
The addict is 28, but sharp cheekbones and tiny wrinkles around his lips make him look much older. His is the face of AIDS in Afghanistan, a conservative Islamic country that has been reluctant to acknowledge the problem the disease poses. A former refugee in Iran, he said he tested positive in March and already has full-blown AIDS. His fate is fairly certain. There is no treatment for AIDS in Afghanistan yet.
…But after the Taliban fled, refugees addicted to heroin and opium returned from Iran and Pakistan, some bringing HIV with them. More and more Afghans who never left the country are now using drugs and injecting them as the heroin trade booms in the post-Taliban era. A 2006 survey showed that 3 percent of 464 surveyed intravenous drug users tested positive for HIV. Although there were cases of HIV before in Afghanistan _ the first was registered in 1989, from a blood transfusion outside the country _ only a handful were identified. The Taliban health minister insisted in 1998 there was no AIDS in Afghanistan, because it was against Islam.
…The conditions could be ripe for many more cases, especially given the average Afghan’s ignorance of the disease. Nationwide, the medical infrastructure is rudimentary at best, and many doctors know nothing about AIDS.
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