ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The National Health Services Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani has said that Pakistan has an estimated 150,000 people living with HIV but out of these only 25,000 are registered at the 33HIV treatment Centres across the Country (World AIDS Day).
“We all need to realize our responsibilities and the critical role we all have to play to make Pakistan HIV free,” the minister said while addressing a Seminar in connection with World AIDS Day.
The minister said that the government is committed to make sincere efforts for increasing the access to and uptake of HIV preventive and treatment services by engaging with all stakeholders to promote HIV awareness and minimize stigma and discrimination against HIV.
“We still have a chance today as Pakistan is confronted with a concentrated HIV epidemic that can be addressed by a focused and targeted approach,” he said.
“We need to unite to avert a full-blown HIV epidemic by taking immediate preventive measures, encourage HIV testing and treatment, and addressing HIV associated stigma and discrimination to reduce the number of new HIV infections.”
The health minister said that the government also aspires to support people living with HIV empowerment by creating an enabling environment and adopting an integrated multi-sectoral approach to address the socio-economic determinants responsible for the spread of HIV in the Country.
){kind=link}