The spread of HIV in Islamabad has become alarming as 618 new cases of the virus have been reported from the federal capital between January 2025 and March 2026, reported 24NewsHD T channel on Saturday.
Sources in the health ministry told the 24News TV channel that youths, who were mostly drug addicts or were involved in unsafe sex practices, were the most affected.
They disclosed that on average more than 41 persons, mostly males, were falling prey to the disease in the city every month.
Elaborating further, sources said that 40 cases were reported in January 2025, 43 in February, 41 in March, 39 in April, 36 in May, 31 in June, and the highest number of 63 cases were reported in July.
Similarly, 45 cases were reported in August, 52 in September, 36 in October, 41 in November and 31 in December, 2025.
Likewise, 41 cases surfaced in January, 2026, 39 in February, and 40 in March.
Sources revealed that the HIV was no longer confined to a specific area of the city.
Among 618 patients, 397 are adult males, who form 64 per cent of the total number of affected people, while 106 are adult females.
There are 93 members of the transgender community as well.
What was more alarming, sources informed, was the presence of the virus in children as 14 boys and eight girls had been affected.
Reporter: Babar Shahzad Turk