Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) are a big source of internal transmission of HIV/AIDS

seemed to have found a new lease in life.”

Before coming to AAS everyone had warned him that he would die very soon. “I used to think that too,” he says, “But I have come out of that now. All my relatives and neighbours know about my condition and they don’t treat me the way they used to when they first found out. Now they really care about me and show me their support.”

Unfortunately, Parvez who is one of the Programme Co-ordinators at AAS, points out that there is not enough money to treat everyone. He hopes that the government will show more empathy towards PLHAs. Parvez has a wife and three children, all of whom are free of HIV.

Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) are a big source of internal transmission of HIV/AIDS

Professor Dr. Mohammad Nazrul Islam, the chairperson of the Department of Virology at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Medical University (BSMMU), who has been working with PLHAs in Bangladesh from the very beginning, feels strongly that it’s high time the government gives more attention towards support and care for the increasing number of PLHAs and their families if it wants to make their programmes successful. “An infected person is a source of infection. We need to ensure that the infection does not spread from this source, in order to stop the internal transmission. In the internal transmission two things must be ensured; firstly, the person who is at risk of getting infected [partner of PLHA] should be educated so that he/she practices safe behaviour and secondly the PLHA should be educated on how to take care of himself/herself. But these people unfortunately are not getting any treatment, proper food, or a place to stay. We are spending hundreds of thousands of taka on awareness-raising through print and electronic media, seminars and symposiums but we are failing to take care of the persons affected. These people are getting desperate. Why should they care about us if we don’t care about them.”

Professor Nazrul Islam believes that it’s the government’s responsibility to take care of the widows and orphans of people who die from AIDS.

Islam thinks that it is a shame that while a large chunk of the money in the national budget includes remittances from abroad sent by emigrant workers who are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, there are no programmes for awareness creation among these people. “These people are getting infected simply because of their ignorance and when they come back to our country and die without any treatment, the government should take the responsibility of their widows and children!” he exclaims. In fact Islam believes that it is the moral responsibility of every citizen of the country to take care of the widows and orphans of the PLHAs.

Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), MSMs (Men who have Sex with Men), and emigrant workers are the most vulnerable group to acquire HIV/AIDS but currently about 85 to 90% of the HIV positive patients are emigrant workers returning from abroad. According to Islam the government has a lot of funds, but the problem is that the funds are not allocated in the right places. The big risk factor is that HIV prevalence is very high in the neighbouring countries, and a lot depends on the AIDS programmes they have in those countries. For example, although Thailand is a high risk country, they have a very strong prevention and control programme as a result of which only one person (official estimates say) has so far been infected from that country. Programmes in India, Malaysia and countries in the Middle East are very weak and every year emigrant workers come back HIV positive from these countries. The strength of a programme depends on two things – one is the percentage of consistent and regular condom use at brothels where these programmes