Islamabad The government is actively working on the HIV Bill, which will soon be presented in the National Assembly so that the basic human rights issues faced by people living with HIV and AIDS can be addressed as part of a concerted strategy, minister of state for health Saira Afzal stated at a World AIDS Day seminar held at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) here Tuesday. World AIDS Day is annually observed on December 1 to remind countries that the HIV response still needs attention because HIV has not gone away. The day aims to raise awareness on the HIV and AIDS situation and threat faced globally, to highlight achievements, and to identify further steps that need to be taken to eliminate the disease. The event was also attended by UN Resident Coordinator Lola Castro, UNAIDS country director for Pakistan and Afghanistan Dr. MamadouL. Sakho, vice chancellor of SZABMU-PIMS, and manager of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP). Speaking on the occasion, Sairaurged religious leaders and opinion makers to come forward and tell people that HIV is a disease, and that rather than discriminating, we need to extend all possible support to people living with HIV. “HIV and AIDS need special attention due to issues related to stigma. Overcoming this challenge is not the sole responsibility of the government; all responsible members of the society must play their role to support initiatives for prevention of HIV and for greater acceptance of people living with the infection,” she stated. Saira said, free treatment is currently being provided to 7,000 HIV patients in 21 treatment centres.“Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 requires meeting the global 90-90-90 targets. Considerable financial resources have been mobilized through domestic allocation for HIV sector. Pakistan is moving towards sustainable national financing and will continue investing in this area. Meantime, the Global Fund has agreed to extend support to NACP AIDS till 2017,” she informed. Dr. Sakho underlined the need to implement the UNAIDS Fast-Track Strategy that aims to end the HIV epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. “The UN General Assembly high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, tentatively planned for June 8-10, 2016, will further galvanize the world towards the fast track response through which we can shrink new infections to 2,000 a year in 2020. Through this strategy, we can bring health, equality, social justice and dignity for all key populations in Pakistan. We have a fragile five-year window to build on the rapid results that have been made so far,” Dr.Sakho stated. Lola Castro pledged all-out support to Pakistan to address stigma and discrimination attached to HIV and AIDS. The NACP manager reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to scaling up targeted and focused interventions to prevent new HIV infections, to foster an organized national response, to improve the health and quality of life of people living with and affected by HIV, and to scale up community-based HIV testing in order to bridge the gap between registered and estimated HIV cases.
