- Advertisement -
PESHAWAR, Sep 28 (APP): The Emergency Response Cell (ERC), set up by Association of People Living with HIV (APLHIV) Pakistan, has provided critical help of treatment continuation to HIV positive patients in flood affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In response to flood emergency, the Association of People Living with HIV-Pakistan (APLHIV) had activated its dedicated Emergency Response Cell (ERC) in August 2025 to safeguard the health and well-being of people living with HIV.
“APLHIV is an organization working across the country to improve quality of life of people living with HIV, their families and those at risk of the disease by ensuring their active participation in society and contribution to HIV response,” informs Asghar Ilyas Satti, National Coordinator APLHIV.
Talking with APP, Asghar Ilyas Satti said recent floods inflicted sever damage to communities across the country, but for people living with HIV (PLHIV), the calamity carried an additional layer of vulnerability by washing away roads, health services and transport disruptions which impeded access to ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) centres.
For extending help to most vulnerable segment of society, APLHIV activated a multi-pronged, community-led identification strategy including activation of Emergency Response Cell (ERC) on Pakistan’s only national 24/7 HIV helpline.
This platform served as a stigma-free, confidential channel for PLHIV to report distress and request support, he apprised.
The APLHIV’s 42 Community Support Groups (CSGs) were engaged to disseminate information, liaise with ART centers, and provide real-time feedback from affected areas.
Using its national registry of 25,000 PLHIV, APLHIV identified about 1,000 individuals residing in flood-affected districts of KP.
While structured telephone outreach confirmed 110 PLHIV as directly affected, having suffered severe losses to homes, livelihoods, health, or livestock, Asghar informed.
During these calls, individuals were also asked about their remaining ARV stock to assess urgency. This layered approach allowed APLHIV to map and verify affected PLHIV across Pakistan, with a strong focus on KP where damage and displacement were most severe.
Among the 110 affected PLHIV, 16 individuals had less than 15 days’ ARV supply, 61 individuals had between 15–30 days’ supply, 33 individuals had more than one month’s stock but still faced risks due to access barriers.
Immediate coordination was carried out with ART centers, case managers, provincial & national programs to ensure urgent re-supply of medicines.
“Beyond safeguarding treatment continuity, APLHIV also contributed to addressing the invisible wounds of trauma carried by flood-affected families by providing them psychological counselling,” National Coordinator APLHIV disclosed.
Ms. Sidra Tul Muntaha, APLHIV’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Officer, was deployed as part of a professional volunteer mission coordinated by the Pakistan Psychiatric Society and the Pakistan Psychological Society.
This mission, which included psychiatrists, psychologists, EMDR specialists and social workers, reached more than 1,100 survivors across Buner, Pir Baba, and nearby districts in KP.
Within this collective effort, APLHIV’s MHPSS Officer played a distinct role by providing direct psychosocial support to over 70 affected individuals, mostly women and girls, through focus group discussions, one-on-one sessions, and home/shelter visits.
This was the first time APLHIV’s MHPSS work was formally connected with a professional psychiatric mission in Pakistan which demonstrated how a PLHIV-led organization can effectively bridge community-driven psychosocial support with structured, professional mental health systems.
Similarly, the organization (APLHIV) also arranged financial support for 25 of the poorest and most at risk families with the objective for enabling them to secure urgent essentials including food, medicines, temporary shelter repairs and transportation to health facilities.
Through her contribution, APLHIV ensured that the unique vulnerabilities of PLHIV were not overlooked within the broader humanitarian response, while also serving the wider community devastated by floods.