December 20, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 19: Minister for Health Mohammad Nasir Khan on Tuesday said the government would establish HIV/Aids referral laboratories in the provinces for surveillance and monitoring of the epidemic.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of National HIV/Aids Referral Laboratory established at the National Institute for Health (NIH), the minister said these laboratories would provide free quality diagnosis facilities for HIV/Aids and other related sexually-transmitted infections.

The newly laboratory at the NIH is associated with the International HIV/Aids Referral Laboratory, Ottawa, Canada, for external quality assurance.

The state-of-the-art laboratory constructed at an estimated cost of $3 million will be able to perform 100 tests daily. UNFPA and Cida provided the financial and technical support for the establishment of the facility.

The minister said the laboratory was the first of its kind in the country in providing surveillance and quality assurance of the laboratory diagnosis of HIV/Aids and other related sexually- transmitted infections.

He said the laboratory would offer resources required for evidence-based public health policy development. It will forge critical partnerships that draw together public health laboratories within a country and create a national programme- based approach to HIV prevention, control and treatment.

The minister said the laboratory would have the ability to serve as a first line of defence in the rapid recognition and prevention of HIV/Aids. It will serve as the backbone for surveillance and monitoring of the epidemic in the country, and provide data for macro analysis so as to design and implement interventions which are the need of the hour.

This will have positive effects on our Millennium Development Goals and decrease the maternal morbidity and mortality associated with reproductive tract infections and STIs, and indirectly help reduce infant mortality rates, the minister said.

He said the government had adopted concrete measures for the prevention and control of HIV/Aids in the country. This is evident from the fact that 85 per cent of the budget for the HIV/Aids prevention and control programme is provided by the government out of its own resources.

Mr Khan said media role was vital in creating awareness among masses of HIV/Aids, adding that a comprehensive advocacy campaign was being run to inform people about the disease.

He said responding effectively to HIV/Aids required coordinated efforts. To stand any chance of effectively responding to the epidemic, “we have to treat it as both an emergency and a long-term development issue”.

Mr Khan said among many other interventions envisaged under the current response, establishment of National HIV/Aids Reference Services Laboratory at the NIH would serve as a hub for all HIV/Aids related laboratory support.— APP