KARACHI: Checks urged on NGOs funding to control Aids: Parliamentarians moot concludes
KARACHI, Jan 31: Parliamentarians, including members of national assembly, Senate and four provincial assemblies, have suggested absolute transparency and accountability with regard to funding allocated to NGOs working in social and health sectors, particularly for HIV/Aids control, by the government as well as the international donor agencies.
They were making recommendations at the second day of the Provincial Parliamentary Seminar on HIV/Aids Policy, which concluded here on Tuesday.
Summing up the proceedings of the two-day moot, MNA Kashmala Tariq said: “We being custodians and elected representatives of the people of Pakistan must know where and how the money being provided for public welfare is spent”.
Parliamentarians had earlier taken strong exception to the remarks made by an NGO representative regarding indifference of politicians towards pertinent issues of the masses.
She recommended close coordination between federal and provincial assembly members and the Aids Control Programme Managers, working in each of the four provinces, so as to help ensuring that the public representatives know actual status of work being taking place in context of HIVS/Aids prevention and support to the patients.
This coordination would also help strengthen the programme in each of the provinces once they were kept well-informed about the growing or changing needs with the passage of time.
On behalf of parliamentarians, she assured that they would help providing all support to the programme with specific reference to availability of medication, which was expensive and beyond means of most of the patients, mainly pertaining to poor segments of the society.
“Gap between NGOs, parliamentarians and bureaucracy needs to be bridged,” Kashmala Tariq suggested.
Referring to availability of funds provided to all four provinces by the World Bank, she suggested that the provinces should ensure timely submission of their respective projects and avoid any unnecessary delay.
MPAs Zubaida Khatoon (from NWFP Assembly), Dr Muzzafar Ali (Punjab Assembly), Syed Talib Imam (Sindh Assembly) and Balochistan Health Minister Hafiz Abdullah in their respective recommendations assured all efforts to initiate legislation and also its implementation to provide blood screening facilities and provision for safe blood as well as disposable syringes and other required facilities, in all parts of the country, to prevent further spread of the HIV.
They underscored the need for developing information material about the disease, its causes, prevention and control, in all regional languages.
They were also unanimous in their opinion to involve, motivate and educate religious preachers to realize intensity and actual facts without any bias about the disease and educate people to protect themselves and their dear ones against it.
They suggested building close linkages between members of the national assembly, provincial assemblies and local governments, to help protect people from their respective constituencies against the scourge, with maximum strength and necessary coordination, despite all political differences.
Balochistan Health Minister Hafiz Abdullah said that he would ensure convening a full session of the provincial assembly about the disease involving all members to ascertain their role in protecting their people against the disease.
Dr Aldo Landi mentioned that Pakistan had been provided with a golden opportunity to contain further spread of the disease and said that people here did have strong family values, especially in the rural areas, but as the situation was changing pragmatic attitude was required to be adopted.
Shazia Rasheed of Parliamentarians Global Action expressed her gratitude to the provincial and national assemblies, Senate, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, Swiss and Norwegian governments for their coordination and making the event a success.—APP
