Technology blamed for spike in HIV rate
islamabad — Technology has led to an increase in HIV infection among young people, particularly gay men and male sex workers, in Pakistan, experts have warned.
Mobile apps and social media have opened new avenues for social encounters in the country. Smartphones provide a degree of sexual liberation, a way of connecting with partners away from the streets, reports the Guardian.
Yet many remain unaware of the risks of HIV, allowing the spread of the virus to accelerate.
“In Pakistan, there has been a rise in HIV among boys and men due to easy access to male dating apps because of advancement in technology and availability of inexpensive gadgets,” said Sophia Furqan, a programme officer with the National Aids Control Programme in Pakistan. HIV rates have jumped dramatically in Pakistan over the past 10 years, from 8,360 people living with HIV in 2005 to nearly 46,000 in 2015 — a 17.6 per cent annual increase, compared with 2.2 per cent worldwide, according to a survey.
Furqan has helped compile a survey of HIV infections in Pakistan in which about 39 per cent of respondents said they found their sexual partners using mobile apps.
The perceived shame of both homosexuality and HIV in Pakistan and the fact that sex education in
there has been a rise in HIV among boys and men due to easy access to male dating apps because of advancement in technology and availability of inexpensive gadgets
17.6% annual increase registered in HIV rates
Sophia Furqan, Aids Control Programme officer
Pakistani schools is severely lacking, the risk of spreading STDs is even greater, the Guardian quoted Furqan as saying.
“Only 8.6 per cent of men engaging in same-sex relations who were polled in the recent survey used protection.”