KARACHI, Nov 30: Sindh Director-General Health Prof Hadi Bukhsh Jatoi has stressed urgent realization on the part of medical professionals, media, public and government to confront the menace HIV/AIDS.
He stated this while addressing an advocacy seminar on ‘HIV/AIDS and blood safety,’ jointly organized by Sindh Enhanced HIV/AIDS Control Programme, Hussaini Blood Bank and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Wednesday.
He said that 258 basic health units in Sindh were non-functional while 296 government-run health facilities were occupied by other departments.
The scenario, he said, was compelling people to approach quacks, who were playing havoc with public health. “We urgently need an anti-quackery act coupled with proper regulatory authority to get rid of quackery,” he said..
He reminded that it was through proper implementation of the Safe Blood Transfusion Act during recent years that successful attempts could be made to control unethical approaches and malpractices preventing high instances of blood infections.
Prof Jatoi, however alled for accelerating the process of registering quality standard blood banks across the province but without compromising on the quality of services.
The Health Secretary, Prof Naushad Shaikh urged the media to play its role in eliminating misconceptions about the ailment, and stressed the need for proper realization among all segments of society that HIV was not simply relevant to unethical tendencies.
“At times, unassuming blood recipients or a medical practitioner exposed to needle prick could also get infected with HIV,” he said.
“It is, therefore, essential for society to adopt a sympathetic attitude towards individuals identified with the disease, as otherwise many such patients due to the stigma attached to the disease, fail to seek necessary medical support and are compelled to experience a dreadful situation,” he remarked.
This, he said, was besides the psychological trauma experienced by them.
The Programme Manager for Enhanced HIV/AIDS Control Programme - Sindh, Dr Shaheed Hussain Isran, in his speech, said that the Sindh province had contributed to 40 per cent of the total 1,278 HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan reported till Sept 2005.
He said that 104 out of these total reported cases were full-blown AIDS cases while the rest 1,174 were HIV asymptomatic cases.
Injecting in groups (sharing) was high, he said, adding that it came from 93 to 97 per cent, Hepatitis-C among them was above 80 per cent, and there also happened to be a very low condom use among sexually active individuals - particularly those identified as high risk group among them..—APP