Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By Our Correspondent
LAHORE
SPEAKERS at a seminar on HIV/AIDS have pointed out a huge discrepancy in the actual incidence of AIDS among up to 80,000 patients against a registered number of just 5,500 patients in Pakistan.
They were speaking at a seminar on “Prevent HIV/AIDS through responsible behaviour - Avoid drugs, unsafe sharing of needles and unscreened blood” organised by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society in collaboration with Universal Access and Human Rights, Punjab AIDS Control Program, UNICEF, UNAIDS, European Commission and Interact Worldwide in connection with World AIDS Day, falling on December 1, 2009, here at a local hotel on Monday.
Punjab AIDS Control Programme (PACP) Project Manager Dr Ali Razzaq said that the causes of HIV/AIDS included unsafe sex, unscreened blood transfusion, used needles, syringes and other instruments as well as drug addiction, especially through unsafe practices, while adding that there was a stigma attached to AIDS and patients didn’t get treatment. He said people should not discard AIDS patients because the disease didn’t transmit to other through handshaking, eating food, using towel and bathroom and performing daily routine works together. He urged the MNAs, MPAs, religious scholars and other educated segments of society to play role in creating awareness among the people regarding prevention of HIV/AIDS.
The PACP project manager said that, with the assistance of World Bank, a total of 10 NGOs were working in different districts of Punjab, which had established 120 blood banks and 13 AIDS prevention centres across the province. He said the government was offering free treatment to AIDS patients.
Prof Dr Javed Akram, Principal Allama Iqbal Medical College/Jinnah Hospital, said the precautionary measures should be adopted to prevent HIV/AIDS. He said AIDS was the fourth largest killer disease in the world. “If a patient acquires AIDS, he/she will have to live with it for life because it could only be controlled and not fully cured,” he said, adding that the disease was transferred to human beings through monkeys. He said the first AIDS patients in Pakistan emerged in 1981 and the virus was detected in 1983.
Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Medical Superintendent Mayo Hospital, said that as many as 150 AIDS patients were registered with the Mayo Hospital and 80 patients were getting full-fledged treatment. “The hospital is also providing free food and medicines to these patients,” he added.
Dr Sadaqat Ali, Professor of Surgery Services Hospital, said the doctors, if diagnosed AIDS among any patient, must inform him and his family so that such a patient might not spread the disease among others.
Dr Ghulam Siddique dispelled the misconception that AIDS also spread through mosquitoes. He said this disease was spread through contact with the infected blood of AIDS patients, adding that barber’s tools, ear and nose piercings, usage of unsterilised instruments by roadside dentists, transmitted the disease among people.
Laila, who represented eunuchs, said that if people, particularly male and female sex workers, adopted precautions then the disease could be prevented. Dr Nasir Sarfraz, Dr Abid Atiq, Dr Jamil Ahmed Chaudhry, Dr Noor, Dr Hashim and others also spoke.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
