'Every app is a dating app': technology blamed for rise in HIV rates in Pakistan
The Guardian - "Experts claim use of apps and social media to find sexual partners, combined with ignorance about HIV born of social stigma, have increased infection
While technology may have strengthened the fight against HIV and Aids in many countries, in Pakistan it has led to an increase in HIV infection among young people, health experts and activists have warned.
Mobile apps and social media have opened new avenues for social encounters in the conservative south Asian country. For gay men and male sex workers in particular, smartphones provide a degree of sexual liberation, a way of connecting with partners away from the streets. Yet many remain unaware of the risks of HIV, allowing the spread of the virus to accelerate.
In other developing countries, apps have made it easier to detect the virus and access treatment. But in Pakistan, public debate about HIV is choked by stigma, homosexuality is taboo and, as a result, information on sexually transmitted diseases is severely limited" (Photo: Norbakshi World/flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)