LAHORE, Dec 1: Speakers at a seminar have stressed the need to educate the people about the risk factors that might cause HIV/Aids.

The seminar was organized in connection with the World Aids Day by the Aids Prevention Association of Pakistan (APAP) in collaboration with various government and donor agencies at Alhamra Hall on Monday.

The speakers stressed that the whole population must be educated to deal with the HIV/Aids victims with great sympathy because sometimes people contract the so far non-curable disease without knowing.

They said that AIDS virus can affect a human being by infected needles or surgical instruments, unsafe blood transfusion, unprotected sexual activity with multiple partners and mother to new born child.

Except these four means, they said, there was no other way that HIV/Aids virus could contract a human being. They said it was a wrong notion that people should avoid using routine items being used by the HIV/Aids victims.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Farzana Nazir said the graph of HIV/Aids infected people was rising particularly in under-developed and developing countries.

She said the US, South Africa, Uganda and India were highly infected by the virus mostly because of unprotected sexual activity.

She said Islam had given a complete code of life that prevent people from unprotected sexual activity with multiple partners that ultimately fuels the spread of HIV/Aids. She said people should adopt Islamic culture and avoid all the four risks that might transmit the virus.

Dr Nazir said the Punjab government was also working to establish HIV/Aids and blood screening centres to ensure safe life for people.

Chief Minister’s Adviser Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool said people should adopt Islamic way of life to avoid the disease that lead towards destruction only.

Lahore District Naib Nazim Farooq Amjad Mir said the needles used to prick nose and ear and blades used to shave various people were the potential sources of transmitting hepatitis-C and HIV/Aids.

Admitting that the Lahore district could not create awareness in this regard so far, he said that he would motivate the Nazims of the 150 union councils in the district to tell people about the ways to prevent the deadly disease.

He also said that people should treat the victims sympathetically as they were already undergoing the punishment of their risky behaviours.

Unicef’s programme officer Dr Fazal Mahmood said in his message on the World Aids Day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had urged the governments of developing countries to focus on preventing the curse from infecting their populations.

He said that Mr Annan had stated that the developing countries’ governments were not giving as much attention to the subject as they ought to.

Punjab Aids Control Programme project director Dr Ali Razaque said the Pakistan government had signed an agreement with the World Bank to launch five-year ‘Enhanced HIV/Aids Control Programme’ to control HIV/Aids epidemic and improve health status of the population.

He said the World Bank would fund the programme.

Under the programme, he said that 120 blood banks operating in the public sector would be strengthened to ensure that all blood should be screened for HIV/Aids, hepatitis-B and C before transfusion.

He said the Punjab Blood Transfusion Authority would also be strengthened and monitored in this regard.

He said a regular awareness programme would also be launched in the print and electronic media during the next five years.

Dr Razaque said that it was a matter of grave concern that even doctors in remote areas were using non-sterilized syringes on different patients and risking their lives.

He stressed that all doctors must use disposable syringes.

He referred to a survey conducted by the health department on 300 people living in Red Light Area to ascertain the incidence of HIV/Aids virus. He said none of them had HIV/Aids virus but 280 people were found infected with hepatitis-C virus.

He said the health department was offering free HIV/Aids tests primarily for high risk groups at pathology departments at the Mayo and Jinnah hospitals, Institute of Public Health in Lahore besides District Headquarters Hospitals in different districts.

He said the Pakistan government was also acquiring medicines for free delivery to the HIV/Aids patients in the country.

APAP secretary-general Dr Haji Hanif, Dr Salma Hameed, Dr Kalsoom Akhtar, MPA Gulshan Malik and others also spoke at the seminar.

Later, the participants in the seminar took part in the Aids awareness walk from the Alhamra Hall to the Punjab Assembly.