A file photo of Pakistanis in an AIDS awareness rally.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has recruited Muslim scholars in a new campaign to raise AIDS awareness to reach out to tens of thousands of people suffering either in silence or ignorance because of taboos in society.

"We have enlisted the help of religious leaders and printed specific material of Qur`anic teachings in order to reach the majority of Pakistan's 160 million people," Qamar-ul-Islam Siddiqi, a program coordinator, told Reuters Friday, July 21.

A reference book and posters with Qur`anic verses stress the need for compassion and care in dealing with people suffering from the disease, and observe Islamic teachings against sex outside marriage.

"The reported ones are just the tip of the iceberg," Islam warned.

Although there are only 3,297 reported cases of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, the officials in the national AIDS control program reckon the real number of cases would be more than 80,000.

There is a very low incidence of reported cases from Pakistan's northwest, but the number of unreported cases is believed to be far higher as many Pakistani migrant workers in the Middle East come from either this region or the villages of central Punjab province.

"Many of them are deported (from the Middle East) after testing HIV positive. It is very important to make them aware of the risk they pose to their families and to change their lifestyle," Dr Adnan Khan, a consultant with the program said.

Other Islamic countries, such as Indonesia and Egypt, have translated the Pakistani material for use in their national programs.

Sermons

Iqbal Khalil, a senior leader of the country's main opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has used the reference book to prepare sermons for Friday prayers.

"We are encouraging even strict scholars in northwestern areas to deliver this model sermon to create more awareness among the people," Khalil said.

The Pakistan government launched its program in 1995 but Islam said it had been difficult to create awareness due to the social and religious constraints and the stigma attached to AIDS.

Many Pakistanis only associate the disease with sex outside marriage, which is strictly prohibited in Islam, and are ignorant of the other ways in which it can be transmitted, namely through contaminated blood or sharing needles for injections.

Amnesty International said in a recent report that despite active measures to stem the spread of the worldwide epidemic too many people live ignorant of prevention methods and deprived of treatment.

There are over 40 million infected person with HIV virus and more than 8,000 people dying daily of AIDS, according to UN estimates.

Africa has been hit harder by the HIV virus than any other continent.

More than 17 million Africans have died from AIDS and another 25 million are HIV positive, approximately 1.9 million of whom are children, according to the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 60% of people living with HIV worldwide.