Hamzullah Khan, Miraj Khattak.
HIV AIDS; experience at two tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar.
Professional Med J Jan ;13(4):627-31.

Objectives: To determine the experience of physicians posted in two tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar regarding HIV/AIDS. Design: Descriptive observational study. Settings: Khyber Teaching Hospital (KHT) and Postgraduate Medical Institute Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar (PGMI, HMC). Duration: From 12` September to 21st December 2005. Material and Methods: A total of 50 clinical experts were selected, 35 from KHT and 15 from HMC. Medical specialists, Pathologists, gynecologists and dermatologists were included. A questionnaire was designed in accordance with the objectives of the study. Questionnaire contained information`s about, 1) The experience of physicians posted in these centers regarding HIV/AIDS management and on. 2) Clinico-pathological aspects, risk behaviors, preventive and precautionary measures, diagnosis and treatment of the HIV/AIDS. Results: A total of 50 health staff including physicians, pathologists, gynecologists and dermatologists were selected. Only 2% of physicians were claiming themselves volunteers for management of HIV cases. Main referral center for treatment and diagnosis was National Institute of Health (NIH) for 72% of physicians. Of total, 74% of physicians had recorded only 0-5 cases during their carrier. No outreach counseling or advertising VCT recorded. Opportunistic infections recorded by physicians were: Tuberculosis (18%), Oral/esophageal candidiasis(14%), STIs(6%) ,Herpes simplex, CMV Infection & Pneumocystic cranii( 4% each) and septicemia (2%). Malignancies recorded were: Kaposi`s sarcoma (6%) and Non- Hodgkin`s lymphoma (2%). Conclusion: The knowledge and attitude of the medical staff was satisfactory but majority of the physician had recorded negligible HIV/AIDS cases. There is need for more awareness through advertisement, workshops and seminars on HIV/AIDS.

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