PESHAWAR, Nov 16: NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan has asked for evolving an effective strategy in the light of Islamic teachings and cultural norms for effective training of society to control spread of HIV/Aids. He issued these directives while presiding over a meeting of the Project Steering Committee of Aids Control Programme NWFP at the committee room of the Health Secretariat Peshawar on Wednesday.

Besides DG Health Services, representatives of information, education, P&D, police, prisons, labour and other departments attended the meeting. The steering committee reviewed in detail the steps being taken for controlling HIV/Aids in the province and took a number of decisions in this regard.

Briefing the committee about Aids situation, provincial manager of Aids Control Programme admitted that authentic data of Aids patients was not available in the province.

He said that all risk factors regarding HIV were there throughout the province. He said the disease could take dangerous turn if in-time preventive steps were not taken.

The committee reprimanded provincial manager of the programme for by passing the DG health services and asked him to keep the DG properly inform while taking any action in future.

The health minister asked the officials of the Aids control project to utilise funds efficiently and prudently.

He said foreign loans should be spent on tangible and purposeful activities. He also ordered revision of PC-1 of the project.

The minister directed concerned authorities for proper assessment of Aids patients, especially migrant workers, to dig out actual factors responsible for spread of the disease. He said AIDS was just a warning to the humanity.