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Jalal Pur Jattan (JPJ) Cantonment

Jalal Pur Jattan (JPJ) [Jalalpur Jattan], is a small town located 12 miles south of Gujrat in District Gujrat, Punjab. JPJ Cantt is a recently built cantonment. It is a military base, equiped with weapons, to counter-back Indian assault on the Chhamb sector. Alexander, leading his Macedonian troops and about 5000 Punjabi jawans, provided to him by Raja Ambhi of Texila, crossed the river Jhelum (known to the Macedonian historians as Hidaspes) at a place now known as Jalalpur Sharif (not Jallapur Jattan) near Lilla in jhelum district.

According to the 1998 population census, total population of JPJ is approximately 90,000 with a population density of 642 persons per square kilometer and the percentage breakup of rural and urban population is 70% and 30% respectively. Gujrat is famous for its "khadi cloth looms", sturdy ceiling fans and stylish furniture.

Gujrat gained national level publicity for the outbreak of HIV infection in 94 people in JPJ hailing from diverse social backgrounds. The sudden discovery of a large cluster of 94 HIV-positive people through a routine HIV testing camp (administered by an NGO, New Light AIDS Control Society, Lahore) set in this small town of Gujrat district raises concerning issues at many levels; i) how did HIV transmission occur in this group of people seemingly at low risk of HIV, ii) if validated (i.e. through a detailed epidemiological investigation) to be true, what is the possibility that other similar hidden pockets are present in districts/cities across Pakistan, iii) what role did unsafe injection (i.e. using unsterile and contaminated needles) and poor infection control practices play in secondary transmission of HIV within this community, and iv) what programmatic strategies should the National and Provincial AIDS Control Programs put in place to proactively prevent such outbreaks in other communities.

Potential risk factors of i) high density of migrant workers (current and deported), ii) active brothels near the Military Cantonment area adjacent to JPJ, and iii) existence of significant injecting drug user populations were identified as key reasons for the initial cases of HIV with secondary transmission accounting for the rest. However, the physician voiced disbelief of the absolute number being so high i.e. nearly 100 without proper identification of people versus samples.