Media Can Play Important Role In Fight Against HIV, AIDS: Akhtar Malik

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Nov, 2022 ) :Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Dr. Muhammad Akhtar Malik on Tuesday said that media could play an important role in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

He said that it was the national responsibility of media to promote awareness about HIV/AIDS and inform people about the facts of this epidemic and how to prevent it.

The Minister said this while addressing an interactive training workshop on 'role of media in HIV and AIDS response' organised with the joint support of Department of Primary and Secondary Health Care and Punjab AIDS Control Program and UNAIDS here.

Dr. Akhtar Malik said that news reporting on HIV was highly sensitive and responsible duty. The privacy of information of people living with HIV was kept highly confidential, he added. He said that in Pakistan, HIV disease was more prevalent in high-risk groups than in the general population.

He said that truck drivers, bus drivers and prison inmates were also factors in the spread of HIV disease. He said that 21 lakh people had been screened for HIV and 37 thousand people were registered as HIV positive. As many as 17,750 people had been treated with free medicines, he said. "Punjab AIDS Control Program is providing free HIV treatment facilities at 45 centers across the province and also providing free PCR and CD4 test facilities to HIV patients through advanced Biosafety level-3 laboratory," he said.

He also informed that awareness about HIV disease was being given by organizing seminars and competitions in educational institutions. In the concluding remarks, he highlighted the steps taken by the Punjab AIDS Control Program related to HIV prevention.

UNAIDS Country Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan Yaki Takemoto speaking on the occasion said that no war could be won without public support and media had very pivotal role in awareness among the people about stigmas related to HIV and AIDS.

"HIV is a virus does not necessarily mean that the person concerned is a patient of AIDS, if drugs are used at the right time, HIV can be prevented from turning into AIDS. It may take 9 to 10 years and during this time the affected person can lead a normal life," she said.

Large number of journalists from print and electronic media participated in the workshop.

Director Hepatitis Control Dr. Shahid Magsi, Deputy Secretary Vertical Programs Hasan Tariq and officers of Punjab AIDS Control Program also spoke on the occasion.