Divisional Commissioner of Khulna Md Abdul Jalil on Monday stressed by exercising the religious and moral values and maintaining preventive measure in over day-to-day life, we must protect ourselves from the deadly disease AIDS. He added, “Lack of knowledge of the issue must be addressed as the patients feel shy to discuss it in public.” He said that we have to think that HIV/AIDS is not only health issue; it is also a social concern. Divisional Commissioner said that conscious and most elite citizens like elected public representatives, teachers, imams, due to their higher respectable position in the society, can play the most effective role in raising mass awareness up to grass root level to keep AIDS away by improving local people’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and worst impacts of those disease among the people including the youths and adolescent.
Abdul Jalil further said the disease has posed a serious threat to Bangladesh, with the rate of HIV infections on the rise. The participations attributed the growing spread of the disease to a reluctance of the concerned authorities to a limited use of the mass media as an important tool to raise public awareness of HIV.
Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md Abdul Jalil made this comment as chief guest at an “Advocacy for Effective Implementation of HIV/AIDS Response in Khulna Division” held at the conference room of Hotel Castle Salam International under Sadar police station in the city on Monday.
A Khulna based non-government organisation Manob Seba O Samajik Unnayon Sangstha (MSSUS) arranged the advocacy meeting in collaboration with National AIDS/STD Programme of Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Save the Children and The Global Fund to create awareness among the people about how to reduce HIV/AIDS risk.
Civil Surgeon of Khulna Dr Golam Morttuza Shikder presided over the meeting. Khulna Press Club (KPC) president Moqbul Hossain Mintu, Additional Deputy Police Commissioner of KMP Rashida Begum and Deputy Civil Surgeon of Khulna Dr Yasin Ali Sardar were present as special guests.
Chief Executive of MSSUS Shamima Sultana Shilu delivered the addressed of welcome. Deputy Director of Department of Narcotics Control, Khulna Md Rafuqul Islam and Advisor of MSSUS Advocate Kudrat-e-Khuda, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Morshed Bilal Khan of ‘Save the Children’ presented the key-note papers.
The speakers said that the main challenge to prevent AIDS is the stigma and discrimination against floating drug addicts and sex workers which make them inaccessible to the intervention programme.
The country is still considered as having low rate of HIV patients and the situation will not deteriorate if the government and private sectors work together, the speakers also said. They also urged the school teachers to discuss the issue with their students so that they can be aware of the disease.
All the bus terminals and sea ports should be careful so that people infected with HIV cannot enter the country, the speakers urged.
Government and non-government officials, political leaders, NGO personalities, civil society members, city elites and local journalists were attended the meeting.
-With The Independent input
