Community Awareness Campaign On

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis

In

Rural Villages of District Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)

Report by

Nisar A. Brohi

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District

Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
Introduction of Organisation

Sangat Development Foundation (SDF) is community based non-

governmental Organization, launched with its mission to work for the
provision of safe drinking water and sanitation and health related
issues and education and awareness especially in remote and
backward areas of district Benazir Abad (Nawabshah).

SDF has taken a number of community-based capacity building and

awareness initiatives, including seminars on different issues
confronting the downtrodden in remote and backward areas.

Sangat Development Foundation (SDF) is member of District Advisory

and Coordination Committee (DCC), WWF-Indus for All programme of
Nawabshah District

Sangat Development Foundation has also been granted membership

by International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in recognition of its
social services to vulnerable communities of rural areas.

SANGAT Partners

o Plan International
o The Asia Foundation (TAF)
o WWF-Pakistan
o UNDP
o Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI)
o Sindh Rural Support Programme (SRSP)
o Dept of Neuro Surgery Nawabshah Medical College/Hospital
(NMC)
o District Govt Nawabshah

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District

Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
"Hepatitis is spreading in the district at an alarming pace as screening
camp found more than 700 of 2,600 people positive over the past one
week. The Camp was set up in Jam Sahib, Nawabshah and Daur and
found an overwhelming number of people suffering from the deadly
disease." Daily Dawn 10, March 2009

A community awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis in rural

villages of District Benazir Abad (Nawabshah) was held with different
very remote
villages of different
Union Councils
(UCs) of district
Benazir Abad
(Nawabshah) in
order to make
aware the local
community on the
sensitivity of
HIV/AIDS but
especially on the
Hepatitis which
has been found
spreading at
Community Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and alarming pace in
Hepatitis in village Ali Abad most parts of the
district especially
in rural areas. Sangat team first invited the community members to
share their health related facilities and problems in their villages and
adjoining areas.

The villagers informed that they are facing with many socio-economic
and other development issues but health problems are the main issue
of their villages. They further said that they were not so well
awareness regarding the issues of their health especially the causes of
Hepatitis, which is fast growing disease in the rural areas of the
district.

While discussing with the villagers, Sangat Development Foundation

team discussed with the poor villagers of all the above diseases which
are fast growing diseases especially in remote and rural areas of the
district where district Health department team reluctant to deal with
the health issues of the underprivileged community with properly. As
on the other side, there are reports that the prevalence of Hepatitis B
infection in the general population in Sindh is about 3%, while that of
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District
Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
Hepatitis C is about 4%, which is higher than the reported world
average. No vaccine is currently available to prevent Hepatitis C, thus
prevention remains the most effective intervention to combat this
virus.

Hepatitis C: HCV is a major cause of acute hepatitis and chronic liver

disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Globally, an estimated
170 million persons are chronically infected with HCV and 3 to 4
million persons are newly infected each year. HCV is spread primarily
by direct contact with human blood. The major causes of HCV infection
worldwide are use of unscreened blood transfusions, and re-use of
needles and syringes that have not been adequately sterilized.

If the hepatitis C begins causing serious liver damage or cirrhosis,

symptoms may become more prominent. In addition to fatigue, there
may be muscle weakness, poor appetite, nausea, jaundice, weight
loss, itching, dark urine, fluid retention, abdominal swelling, and ankle
swelling.

Hepatitis B: Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver, and the most

common cause is infection with one of 5 viruses, called hepatitis
A,B,C,D, and E. All of these viruses can cause an acute disease with
symptoms lasting
several weeks
including yellowing
of the skin and
eyes (jaundice);
dark urine;
extreme f
atigue; nausea;
vomiting and
abdominal pain. It
can take several
months to a year
to feel fit again.
Hepatitis B virus
can cause chronic
infection in which
Community Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and the patient never
Hepatitis in Village of Wasi Goth gets rid of the
virus and many
years later can develop into cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. HBV is
the most serious type of viral hepatitis and the only type causing
chronic hepatitis for which a vaccine is available.
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District
Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
Not everyone who is infected with HBV will experience symptoms of
acute hepatitis–between 30% and 40% of people infected with the
virus do not experience any noticeable symptoms. If symptoms do
occur, they usually do so within four to six weeks after being infected
and can last anywhere from one or two weeks to several months.

The symptoms of acute hepatitis B can include:

• Yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes, and under the

fingernails (jaundice)
• Dark urine and/or pale stool
• Feeling tired and rundown (fatigue)
• Fever
• Abdominal pain
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Joint pain

Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is spread

from one person to
another when the
feces (shit) of
someone with the
virus gets into
another person's
mouth. There are
a number of ways
that this can
happen:

-Eating food –
particularly food
that is raw or not
thoroughly cooked
Community Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and (shellfish, for
Hepatitis in village of Jamal Khan example) – that
has been handled
or prepared by someone who has hepatitis A.

• Drinking water or ice that is contaminated with feces.

• Engaging in oral-anal sex ("rimming") with someone who has
hepatitis A.

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District

Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
 • Rarely, HAV can also be spread through blood-to-blood exposure
(sharing intravenous drug injection equipment, for example).

Symptoms of hepatitis A (and acute hepatitis in general) can include:

• Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)

• Feeling tired and rundown (fatigue)
• Pain in the upper-right abdomen
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Fever
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Dark urine and/or pale stool
• Joint pain

AIDS: AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is a condition

caused by a virus called HIV. This virus attacks the immune system,
the body's "security
force" that fights off
infections. When the
immune system
breaks down, you
lose this protection
and can develop
many serious, often
deadly infections and
cancers. It said that
someone "died of
AIDS." This is not
entirely accurate,
since it is the
opportunistic
Community Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and
Hepatitis in Village of Rahim Chandio infections that cause
death. AIDS is the
condition that lets the OIs take hold. HIV Human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) was established to be the cause of the acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1983. Ever since then, a lot of
research has been conducted and a great deal of information has been
generated regarding the ways HIV can be transmitted from one person
to another. HIV is a virus, like the flu or cold. A virus is really nothing
but a set of instructions for making new viruses, wrapped up in some
fat, protein and sugar. Without living cells, a virus can't do anything—
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District
Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
it's like a brain with no body. In order to make more viruses (and to do
all of the other nasty things that viruses do), a virus has to infect a
cell. HIV mostly infects T-cells, also known as CD4+ cells, or T-helper
cells. These cells are white blood cells that turn the immune system on
to fight disease. Once inside the cell, HIV starts producing millions of
little viruses, which eventually kill the cell and then go out to infect
other cells. All of the drugs marketed to treat HIV work by interfering
with this
process.
There, that
wasn't so
hard, was it?

HAV infection
can also cause
enzymes
produced by
the liver to
increase
above normal
levels in the
bloodstream.
The most
Community Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and
important liver
Hepatitis in Village of Ali Khan Chandio
enzymes are
alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST).
Elevated enzyme levels indicate that the liver is not functioning
properly and that there may be a risk of permanent liver damage. With
hepatitis A, liver enzyme levels can be temporarily elevated, but this
rarely leads to long-term liver problems. Both of these enzymes are
measured as part of a standard Chem-Screen (CS) Test, which people
on anti-HIV treatments usually have done on a regular basis, along
with their other blood tests.

It can take the immune system up to eight weeks to clear HAV from
the body. If symptoms occur, they usually do so within two to four
weeks after being infected. The symptoms of hepatitis A can last
anywhere from a week to more than a month. Approximately 15% of
people with hepatitis A experience symptoms that last between six to
nine months.

About one out of 100 people infected with HAV may experience a quick
and severe (fulminant) infection, which – very rarely – can lead to
liver failure and death.
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District
Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)
In all health awareness campaign meetings, the local community was
fully sensitized regarding their health related problems especially
causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis and their possible
solutions, and also “Village Based Health Committees” were
formed in all respective villages which would chalk out strategy to
collectively make all possible efforts in addressing the health related
issues confronting by the villagers and would also coordinate with local
elected representatives such as Nazims, Naib Nazims and EDO Health
District Benazir Abad (Nawabshah) to map out a comprehensive plan
effectively addressing the all above serious diseases growing fastly in
the district rural community is the worst victim.

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness Campaign in Rural Villages of District

Benazir Abad (Nawabshah)