PESHAWAR, April 23: Participants of a workshop here on Saturday urged civil society organizations to focus on the prevention of hepatitis with HIV/AIDS, because the mode of transmission of both the ailments was the same. “Hepatitis is also a big threat to people in this part of the country. Therefore, the NGOs working in the area of HIV/AIDS should also focus on preventive measures against hepatitis,” said NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan.

The workshop was arranged by the NWFP AIDS Consortium.

The minister said all the risk factors of AIDS were prevailing in the society and it was high time to sensitize the masses to avert the impending threat.

He said the main cause of the spread of the disease in the country was the deportation of AIDS patients from the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries.

Such patients infected their wives and other people after their return, because no one knew about their disease, the minister said.

He said the UAE and other governments must inform the government about the deportation of such patients, so that other people could be saved.

He said the NGOs should adopt strategies in line with the local culture and traditions, saying that it would make their appeal socially acceptable and help in getting support of the masses.

He said all efforts made so far by the NGOs working for controlling the disease were focused on specific groups and confined to closed rooms. “Direct contact with the common man and change in public opinion was ignored,” he remarked.

He advised NGOs to involve opinion makers, including ulema, media people and elected representatives, to mobilize the society for combating AIDS.

He said remarkable achievements had been made in controlling polio and TB through social mobilization in the province.

The successful strategy was recognized by the World Health Organization and other provinces were following the NWFP in this regard, he said.

He said TB Dots facilities had been extended to the whole of the province one year before the target and steps for improvement of health care for mother and child were under way.