PESHAWAR, April 15: Reverent Rafiq Javed has urged members of the Christian community to stick to their religious values in order to prevent the alarming spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS.

He was speaking as chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of an awareness seminar held under the auspices of the Support Agency for Rural and Human Association Development (Sarhad) at Saint Augustine Church in Kohat on Friday, said a press release.

Reverent Javed said that AIDS was causing serious harm to human lives and it needed to be countered.

“Presently, there is no medicine to cure AIDS and the only way to save oneself from the deadly ailment is to live accordingly to norms and values set by the religion. We must focus on preventive measures,” he maintained.

He also explained the HIV/AIDS in the social and ethical perspective and said that not only the religion stressed prevention but it was also the challenge of the 21st century to serve the ailing humanity in raising awareness against such diseases.

Underlining the need for timely awareness amongst all the community members, the team leader of Sarhad, Nasir Gill, said that being a community member it was the moral and ethical responsibility of every person to raise awareness amongst community.

Earlier, in a group discussion, the participants forwarded several questions ranging from symptoms of AIDS to its cure.