On World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS’ call on World AIDS Day (1 December 2025), health authorities raised alarm over a sharp rise in HIV infections across Pakistan, describing it as one of the fastest-growing epidemics in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.
New HIV infections in the country have increased by 200 % over the last 15 years — climbing from about 16,000 in 2010 to roughly 48,000 in 2024. Experts warn that the epidemic is no longer restricted to high-risk groups: it is spreading into general population — including children, spouses, and other communities — driven by factors such as unsafe blood-transfusion practices, poorly sterilized injections, gaps in infection-control, insufficient antenatal screening, unprotected sexual activity, and limited access to HIV services.
Current estimates suggest around 350,000 people in Pakistan are living with HIV — but about 80 % remain unaware of their status. To address the crisis, WHO, UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health marked World AIDS Day with an awareness-raising walk and urged both collective and individual action to intensify prevention, testing, treatment, and support services — with the long-term goal of ending AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030.
Despite progress — including an eight-fold increase over the past decade in the number of people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) from roughly 6,500 in 2013 to about 55,500 in 2024 — only a small fraction of those living with HIV are diagnosed, treated, and achieve viral suppression.