EVALUATION OF HIV/AIDS SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Background: Globally about 33 million people are living with HIV. In Pakistan 4,000 cases have been reported since1986. The objective of this study was to evaluate the existing HIV/AIDS surveillance system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwaprovince.Material & Methods: This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down by CDC for evaluating publichealth surveillance systems. Duration of study was from 1 1 November to the end of December 2008. Key stakeholderswere interviewed through mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative methods, both) regarding updatingguidelines of CDC for evaluation of Public Health surveillance system. Data collecting forms are simple in structure.Results: There is low reporting rate due to social and cultural stigma (Estimated number of positive HIV cases incountry is 80,000 while reported cases in the province are 412). So the sensitivity of the system is 4.1%.Conclusion: The predictive value of screening test is 100% because all screened cases at blood banks were foundpositive both on ICT and ELISA. Variation in data reporting time at various levels was observed.KEYWORDS: HIV/AIDS, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Surveillance.