S i g n i s I n d i a

LAHORE, Pakistan, June 14, 2010--The new service was announced during a Sunday Mass at Holy Cross Church, in one of the city’s most deprived districts.

“The virus is not only transmitted sexually; there can be other reasons too and it is prudent to have a check-up. We shall not charge anything – it’s absolutely free,” Father Bernard Bhatti told a congregation of around 200 Catholics. He asked them to contribute by spreading news of the service around their neighborhood.

The specially arranged Mass was part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the issues and the solution throughout the city’s poorest areas. The project is run jointly by a number of bodies including AAS, a local Catholic initiative.

The National AIDS Control Program says the number of new HIV/AIDS patients is on the rise, with 25 to 30 new cases recently registered at the main hospital in the capital, Islamabad. It claims there are 864 HIV/AIDS patients in the country, most related to intravenous drug users or deported migrant workers from the Middle East.

However UNAIDS sets the figure higher, estimating that 70,000 to 80,000 people, or 0.1% of the adult population, are infected. Father Bernard, who directs Lahore’s Catholic Youth Ministry, also believes the figure is higher. “The government is trying to suppress the true statistics,” he asserts.

“People have biased behavior with AIDS patients and, along with lack of finance, this is our major challenge,” added Hector Nihal, patron of AAS. (UCAN)