Afghanistan must act to prevent HIV, AIDS, Experts Say KABUL: Afghanistan must act now to prevent an explosion of HIV and AIDS fuelled by a potential hike in the number of drug users sharing needles, experts here have warned. Health officials estimated in October there were only up to 1,500 cases of HIV/AIDS in the country but this could be pushed upwards by some 7,000 people estimated to inject heroin, a drugs policy think-tank said. "Many factors point to a situation which could get a lot worse," Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of the Paris-based Senlis Council think-tank, told a meeting of government officials, aid groups and other agencies Saturday. These factors included the increasing return of refugees from Iran and Pakistan, where many Afghans inject heroin for the first time, and a high degree of poverty. "HIV in Afghanistan is not yet a pandemic but can become in the next five years a big pandemic" said Massimo Barra, chairman of the development commission of the International Federation of the Red Cross Societies. Barra urged the government to open anti-drugs centers, begin methadone treatment to wean users off heroin and distribute clean needles and condoms.