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The government in Bangladesh provides the figure that only 211 persons have been detected with AIDS since 1989. The UN-AIDS report contradicts this government supplied figure and maintains that the number of AIDS cases in Bangladesh is around 13,000. According to other expert assessments, the number could be much bigger than even the UN-AIDS stated figure because the risk factors that promote the quick spread of AIDS seem to be widespread in this country while consciousness about the disease and ways of avoiding it are considered as very inadequate. There are probably many carriers of AIDS in Bangladesh who remain undetected.
They point to Bangladesh's closeness to India, Myanmar and Thailand, the major AIDS afflicted countries in this part of the world, widespread poverty, illiteracy, high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), rampant practice of pre- and extra- martial sex, etc., as the reasons why they think Bangladesh could be sitting on top of an AIDS volcano though the same is not understood at the moment.
The rapid spread of AIDS might trigger a national health crisis that a poor country like Bangladesh would fail to cope with because its per capita availability of resources for health care is meagre. AIDS treatment with some hope of remaining physically functional and delaying deaths would surely be unaffordable for most Bangladeshi victims. They are also unlikely to get proper institutional or governmental supports towards this end.
In Africa, AIDS wiped out major sections of workforces and has left orphaned children and other dependants into the worst miseries as there is none to look after them. National output have declined in those countries because of shrinking of labour force. The burden on individuals, families or the governments also has climbed unbearably in those poor countries due to widespread prevalence of AIDS. Such experiences point to the urgency of waking up to the AIDS threat in Bangladesh in time.
AIDS is still an incurable disease and its treatment is so costly that only its prevention can be the best strategy in Bangladesh . Thus, publicity campaigns designed to spread awareness about prevention methods of the disease must be increased and sharpened.
The message needs to be imprinted seriously and extensively in the minds of the greatest number of people that AIDS is a preventable disease if they have safe sex, for which there are ways. The movements of vulnerable groups like prostitutes, persons who come from foreign countries, etc., should be regularly monitored and they should be actively persuaded and advised about not spreading the disease.
Rehana Amin
Dhaka Medical College Hospital
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