World AIDS Day: Rohingya influx triggers fears of disease spreading

Although Bangladesh has a lower than average prevalence rate of AIDS cases, the influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar has triggered fears that some of them may bring the deadly disease into the country along with them and cause it to spread. Experts have also expressed concern that a large number of AIDS cases in Bangladesh may be unidentified, artificially lowering the prevalence rate of the disease. A total 83 HIV positive Rohingya have been identified at the refugee camps in the southern part of the country so far, though Unicef HIV/AIDS specialist Dr M Ziya Uddin said Myanmar’s prevalence rate of 0.8% means as many as 5,000 infected Rohingya refugees may have arrived and remain unidentified. He added that two-thirds of all AIDS cases in Bangladesh are similarly in the shadows. “An estimated 12,000 to 14,000 people are living with HIV in Bangladesh, as per the Asian Epidemic Model projection data where our prevalence rate is 0.01%. However, we have only identified 4,721 of them,” Dr Ziya said. In addition, he said 24 children under the age of 10 were among 42 newly identified cases this year. According to data from the National AIDS/STD Programme, 799 people have died from the disease since the first AIDS case was identified in Bangladesh in 1989. Among them, 141 died this year. Sources from the Cox’s Bazar Civil Surgeon Office echoed Dr Ziya in saying that there may be thousands of AIDS affected Rohingya in the refugee camps at Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas, and the disease could spread to the local community if they were not identified soon. Ukhiya Thana Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Mezbah Uddin said: “The Rohingya are not knowledgeable enough on health and disease prevention. They need to be made aware or diseases such as AIDS could easily spread to locals.” However, the health ministry has dismissed fears that AIDS may spread to the general population from Rohingya refugees, saying various measures under the AIDS/STD Programme of the Directorate of Health Services were in place to prevent such an incident. Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim said: “Under the programme, various steps have been undertaken to prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS among the Rohingya people staying at different parts of Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas in Cox’s Bazar district.” The measures included provision of free HIV screening and counselling services as well as distribution of kits to diagnose the virus at hospitals in Cox’s Bazar, he added. “In addition, necessary training was given to medical staff and antiretroviral drugs are being given to HIV-infected patients,” the health minister said. Meanwhile, Dr Ziya further said that it was not enough to restrict such programmes to just the Rohingya, and they should be included for the general population as well. “We need a structured programme based on data and evidence, not only for refugees but also for the host community, as the area was always a risk of HIV spreading in the Cox’s Bazar area because there are many immigrant workers in the region, and it is a tourist destination as well,” he said. According to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 250,000 people in Myanmar are affected with AIDS, with the country being one of 35 that account for 90% of new HIV infections in the world. World Aids Day was observed on Thursday, with WHO highlighting the need to include people with HIV in society under the slogan “Everybody counts.”