Awareness lecture empowers Bahria University students
Islamabad :November 22: Only by placing rights at the centre of global health can quality health care be available and accessible for everyone. Without the right to health, youth cannot effectively prevent HIV or gain access to treatment and care. The people most affected by HIV are often the most marginalized. They are also most frequently denied their right to health services.
Sentiments to this effect echoed Tuesday at an awareness seminar on HIV and AIDS, organised by the National AIDS Control Programme here for the students of Bahria University. The seminar was the first in a series of events being organised in connection with World AIDS Day (WAD), which is observed globally on December 1 every year. A large number of students attended the seminar and participated in the question-answer session.
The objective of the seminar was to talk about HIV/AIDS and most importantly to address the stigma attached to persons having/living with HIV/AIDS. It also provided evidence-based information to students, clearing the misconceptions and myths associated with factors such as how the virus can be contracted and prevented, and how it can be treated.
We need to focus on HIV prevention among young key populations and adolescent. Students are the future of our country and there is a dire need to educate them on such issues so that they can act as agents of change and help in changing the perception of HIV/AIDS, the speakers pointed out.
UNAIDS Country Director Dr. Mamadou L. Sakho stated that almost all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked to health in some way. Achieving the SGDs, including ending AIDS as a public health threat, will depend heavily on ensuring the right to health for all.”
The National Programme Manager of NACP Dr. Baseer Khan Achakzai urged youth, who comonstitute a majority of the country’s population, to becomes advocates for change by raising awareness. “Well informed youth can help bust various myths about HIV and feel empowered to take correct and informed decisions ,” he stated.
WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr. Assai Ardakani said, “We should all try our best to ensure access of people living with HIV/AIDS to affordable, comprehensive, quality-based HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment in an environment free from stigma and discrimination. Young people can play a positive role in their own society, identifying facts from myths. WHO, being a technical agency, is trying its best to build the capacity of healthcare providers, enabling them to prevent and control the menace of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of healthcare in the country.”
Dr. Sofia Furqan, Senior Programme Officer, NACP, gave a detailed presentation on what HIV/AIDS is, its treatment and prevention, as well as the stigma attached to it. National Coordinator Asghar Satti spoke on the role of the Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS. He said, “Community and social mobilization is instrumental in raising awareness in masses and eliminating misconceptions associated with HIV/AIDS.” He also highlighted the role that the young generation can play to reverse the tide of the HIV epidemic. Earlier on, the seminar began with a recitation from the Holy Quran. Dr Faisal Aftab, welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance of the topic.
The global HIV epidemic claimed fewer lives in 2015 than at any point in almost 20 years. Prevention programmes reduced the number of new HIV infections per year to 2.1 million in 2015, a 35% decline in incidence since 2000. The massive expansion of antiretroviral therapy has reduced the number of people dying of HIV related causes to approximately 1.1 million 2015 – 45% fewer than in 2005.
WHO, UNAIDS and NACP are working together in close collaboration for the prevention and control of the spread of HIV/AIDS. Having achieved the global target of halting and reversing the spread of HIV, world leaders have set the 2020 “Fast-Track” targets to accelerate the HIV response and to end AIDS by 2030.
