Stigmatising HIV/AIDS patients unacceptable, says Dr Yasmin

LAHORE:Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has called for ending discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients and not stigmatising them.

She was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of National Guidelines for Management of STIs jointly organised by King Edward Medical University and UNAIDS at a local hotel here on Friday.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan also joined the event and shared his thoughts on the subject. UNAIDS Country Director Dr Maria Elena Filio, KEMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Khalid Masood Gondal, Fatima Jinnah Medical University VC Prof Amir Zaman Khan, Punjab AIDS Control Programme Director Dr Munir Ahmed, representatives of UNFPA, WHO and a large of physicians and experts were also present on the occasion.

The health minister said that the government had introduced Insaf Medicine Cards for patients of TB, Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS and around 180,000 cards were being distributed for free treatment. The initiative will especially help patients of co-infections. Patients of HIV/AIDS have to take medicines throughout their lives and adherence to treatment was key to managing the disease, she added.

The guidelines will greatly help experts manage STIs among HIV/AIDs patients. Major source for spread of HIV/AIDS are quacks, re-use of infected syringes and violation of the SoPs during blood transfusions, she said.

Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the Punjab AIDS Control Programme was providing free-of-cost diagnostic, counseling and treatment services to HIV/AIDS patients across the province. She said the behaviour of doctors provided half the treatment to patients. She said that discrimination against HIV/AIDs patients and stigmatising them especially in healthcare settings was totally unacceptable.

Responding to questions of journalists, she said violation of the SOPs at political gatherings was causing increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. She urged the politicians to be especially careful in the wake of the second wave of corona pandemic that has caused lockdowns around the world. She said prevention from COVID-19 was possible only through compliance with the SOPs and complete care was being provided in public sector hospitals.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan said that the World AIDS Day was marked on December 1. The launch of international report on this day was a positive development as it would help the countries like Pakistan develop strategies accordingly.