PESHAWAR, Dec 13: The NWFP Health Department has yet to make proper utilization of millions of rupees provided by international donor agencies under their Enhanced HIV/Aids Control Programme.

Official sources told Dawn here on Monday that the World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID) and Canadian International Development Agency (Cida) were jointly assisting the NWFP Health Department's Enhanced HIV/Aids Control Programme which will cost the government Rs274.665 million.

Out of the total amount, Rs219.732 would be provided by donor agencies, while the provincial government would provide Rs54.933 million for the purpose. The programme was approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on April 4, last year, but the department concerned is yet to properly utilise the allocated fund even after the passage of almost one and a half years.

The allocation for the programme for the year 2004-05 has been estimated at Rs61.440 million and it includes Rs2 million share of the provincial government and Rs59.440 million provided by the donors.

The finance department has released Rs2 million but reported utilization of these funds was only Rs300,000 during the first quarter of the current fiscal, showing only two per cent of the total released funds.

As per schedule, said the sources, the department concerned was supposed to utilise about 25 per cent of the allocated amount during the first three months, but the recorded funds utilisation shows a dismal picture of the overall progress of the programme.

The progress on Enhanced HIV/AIDS control programme, which is one of the important projects of the health department's Annual Development Programme, remained very slow in the previous fiscal 2003-04, as during the whole year the department utilized only Rs600,000.