Mohammad Saeed Anwar, Ghazala Jaffery, S Abdul Rasheed.
Serological Screening of Female Prostitutes for Anti-HIV and Hepatitis B Surface Antigen.
Pak J Health Jan ;35(3-4):69-73.

Pakistan is an Islamic country. Inspite of legal ban on prostitution in this country, it is going on under the cover of dancing and singing to earn livelihood. Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan. Present study was carried out to assess the prevalence of two sexually transmitted disease (HIV and HBV infections) in the female prostitutes in Lahore by determining seropositivity for anti-HIV (antibodies against human immunodefeciency virus) and HBsAg (hepatitis B surface antigen). The mean age of subjects was 323 (+/-93) years with range of 18-54 years. Out of 103 female subjects, two (1.94%) were seropositive for anti-HIV Both of these subjects were in the sexually active age-group (21-40 years). While out of 103 subjects, twelve (11.65%) were positive for HBsAg, with no significant difference (p > 0.05) between different age-groups. No prostitute was observed to be seropositive for both anti-HIV and HBsAg. Low prevalence in this high risk group reflects the effect of legal, social and religious constraints in Pakistani society. Intervention strategies to combat HIV transmission among the prostitutes and their customers is the best way to reduce HIV transmission in our general population.

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