PESHAWAR, Sept 1: NWFP Health Minister Innayatullah Khan has underlined the need for launching the e-government system in health department, it would help society to overcome numerous fatal diseases.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the website and the newsletter of the Provincial Aids Control Programme (PACP), here on Thursday, the minister said computerisation of the health system was of great importance in promoting awareness and eradicating of the fatal diseases.

Mr Khan expressed concern over the prevailing culture of absenteeism, lack of interest on the part of the health workers and officials, he warned of action against all those unwilling to serve ailing humanity.

The minister said the website would not only be helpful for the people but also for the government in getting accurate information.

He assured the health department of providing all necessary funds for introducing e-government system. He said that such a system would facilitate the government in decision making and would decrease file burden in the offices.

Mr Khan said that Pakistan was low prevalent but high-risk country for HIV/AIDS, hence, preventive measures were needed to check the spread of the disease.

No one had undertaken any study to determine the major cause of spreading HIV/AIDS in our society, he said.

He asked the HIV/AIDS control programme officials to link prevention of hepatitis with HIV/AIDS, as the mode of transmission of both the diseases was the same.

He maintained that the initiative would make the HIV/AIDS campaign acceptable among the people. Our religion, customs and traditions are protection against the disease, he said.

The programme manager of PACP, Dr Mohammad Zaffar said that Pakistan was a high-risk country and presently there were around 2500 HIV/AIDS patients but taking socio-economic condition into consideration the number of patients could increase manifold.

He said that policy makers, religious leaders and media people could play a vital role in creating awareness and preventing the disease from further spreading.

He said that the website would in creating awareness and educating masses about HIV/AIDS.