Health experts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are sounding the alarm as a rising number of married women and children test positive for HIV, signaling a worsening situation that authorities appear unprepared to manage. Doctors at the District Headquarters Hospital in Landi Kotal report that many of these women and children contracted the virus from male family members, primarily husbands or fathers who had lived abroad in Gulf countries or in major Pakistani cities.
According to medical staff, a major challenge is that many infected men refuse to get tested due to fear of social stigma, leaving women to seek help on their own. This reluctance is contributing to hidden transmission within households.
Khyber district has now confirmed 313 HIV cases, making it the second most affected merged district after North Waziristan, which has 383 infections. Across the seven merged districts, a total of 1,488 people have been diagnosed with HIV, highlighting the scale of the crisis.
Despite these alarming numbers, health officials failed to organize any public awareness activities on International AIDS Day. an oversight that experts say reflects a severely lacking institutional response. Doctors emphasize that the virus is spreading not only through unsafe sexual practices but also through poor hygiene, contaminated blood transfusions, unsterilized medical equipment, reused syringes, and even shared barber tools. Yet, many residents remain unaware of these transmission risks.
Medical professionals are urging the government to launch urgent awareness drives in schools, colleges, mosques, hujras, and jirgas. They stress that community elders and religious leaders must play an active role in dispelling myths and reducing stigma so more people feel safe seeking testing and treatment.
Meanwhile, District Health Officer Dr. Mustafa Kamal has not responded to questions about the department’s lack of action, leaving affected families with little guidance or support as the crisis deepens.
