KARACHI, Aug 29: The Senate Committee on Health has taken strong note of the fact that HIV/AIDS Control Programme is yet to factually take off in most parts of the country, particularly in the NWFP and Balochistan.

The committee, headed by Senator Roshan Bharucha, following a detailed presentation by Dr Asma Bukhari of National AIDS Control Programme, on Monday stressed on urgency to incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention into TB-DOTS Programme and Hepatitis B and C prevention strategy.

The senators had their reservations regarding the public awareness and education component of the countrywide programme on AIDS Control.

Senator Dr Abdullah Riar, an epidemiologist, said that public awareness should have been the first and most efficient line of action.

He said that subtle but effective messages could, by now, had made people realize the modes of transfusion, virulence of the infection and how to protect themselves efficiently.

The senators including Dr Azizullah Satakzai, Dr Abdullah Riar, Dr Nighat Agha, Dr Kauser Firdaus, Mrs Razina Alam Khan and Senator Roshan Bharucha also registered their concern that no comprehensive data could be generated regarding prevalence of the disease.—APP