PESHAWAR, Jan 17: The incidence of HIV/AIDS has assumed epidemic level in the country and there is a need for inter-sector collaboration for creating public awareness about how to control the disease effectively.

This was stated by NWFP Minister for Health Inayatullah while addressing a sensitisation and advocacy seminar on AIDS for educationists that was held here on Wednesday.

The seminar, jointly organised by the Provincial AIDS Control Programme and Unicef, was participated by executive district officers and district officers (female) of the schools and literacy department from all over the province.

Speakers included Dr Mohammad Zafar, manager of the Provincial AIDS Control Programme, director of curriculum NWFP, Razia Rasheed, Dr Mohammad Iqbal Khalil, and Dr Nasreen Aftab.

The health minister said that the health department was endeavouring to ensure the participation of various sectors in controlling the diseases, adding that the education department was a close partner of the health department in this regard.

Highlighting the teachers’ role in creating public awareness, the health minister urged the teachers to realise their responsibilities and educate the youth about a healthy lifestyle.

“Due to the misconception that the health department was alone tasked with eliminating diseases, funds are utilised for establishing health outlets and provision of medicines while awareness and prevention is totally ignored,” he said.

The health minister stressed the need for educating mothers and sensitising teachers about healthy behaviour so that they could promote healthy social behaviour.

Mr Inayat said that AIDS was a great threat for the country as it had entered the stage of a concentrated epidemic, adding that risk factors were still widespread. He said that while the reported cases of HIV/AIDS were very limited but according to WHO’s estimates, the number of people affected by AIDS exceeded 200,000 while the federal health ministry admitted that there were only 90,000 AIDS patients.

The health minister stressed the need for constant health education, adoption of Islamic values and proper focus on vulnerable groups to avoid the disease. He also called for strict implementation of safe blood transfusion laws to effectively control the spread of the disease.

Razia Rasheed, director of curriculum, said that the challenge of AIDS could only be met by creating awareness about the deadly disease. She urged the teachers to play a role model in transmitting positive and safe behaviour to their students to ensure a disease-free society.

The educationist urged teachers to inform students about the threat of the disease in an interesting way.

Dr Iqbal Khalil said that 3.1 million people had died during 2004 because of AIDS globally while 7.1 million were living with HIV/AIDS in South Asia.

—PPI