Islamabad :To mark the World AIDS Day, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with Islamabad Founder Lions Club organized a seminar to raise awareness about AIDS. Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Ch. Haroon Naseer CEO Maroof Hospital, Sheikh Amir Waheed President, Faheem Khan Vice President, Muhammad Naveed Malik Secretary General of Islamabad Founder Loins Club, Dr. Afshan Malik, Dr. Waheed, Dr. Usama, Dr. Mehwish, Baser Daud, Safina Shah, Ashfaq Chatha, Nausheen Arshad, Sheikh Jamshed and a large number of business community attended the seminar.
Addressing the seminar, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the World AIDS Day reminded us to unite in the fight against HIV and to show solidarity with people living with HIV. He said that in our society people infected with HIV were facing stigma and discrimination, which was preventing them from living a full and happy life and stressed for educating people to change such negative mindsets. He said that the unsafe blood transfusions and the use of unsterilized medical and dental equipment were the main causes of the spread of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan and the government should take strong measures to ban such unhealthy practices. He stressed on enhancing the capacity of healthcare workers, adherence to injection safety standard operating procedures and the ways to implement safe blood transfusions. He thanked the office bearers of Islamabad Founder Lions Club for joining hands with ICCI for organizing seminars on an important topic that would be beneficial for the participants.
Ch. Haroon Naseer, CEO Maroof Hospital and Dr. Usama gave a detailed presentation about the technical aspects of AIDS, its progression, signs & symptoms, diagnosis process, basic knowledge and its treatment options. They informed that 1.7 million people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2019 worldwide, 38 million people were living with HIV globally in 2019 and 690,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2019 around the world.
Sheikh Amir Waheed, M. Naveed Malik, Dr. Afshan Malik, Dr. Waheed, Dr. Mehwish and others also spoke at the occasion and suggested the interventions to prevent this disease. They said that community leaders and media should be taken on board to raise more awareness about HIV/AIDs in people. They were of the view that better education of people about HIV/AIDS would be helpful in removing the stigma and misperceptions associated with this disease. They said the world was doing much more to control HIV/AIDS compared to the work being done in Pakistan. They said that disposable syringes were banned around the world, but in Pakistan many hospitals were using these syringes because they were cheaper and stressed that their use should be completely banned to save the lives of people.