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Mainstream HIV issue for effective prevention

Speakers tell roundtable

Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday underscored the need for mainstreaming the HIV/AIDS issue to help raise awareness and provide cost-effective service.
The round table titled ’Mainstreaming of HIV: Role of leadership in Bangladesh’ was organised jointly by the UNFPA and The Daily Star at its conference room in the city.
The speakers said mainstreaming of HIV would also help in removing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), utilising service delivery and ensuring human and reproductive rights.
While delivering the keynote paper Khandaker Ezazul Hoque, HIV officer of UNFPA Bangladesh, said mainstreaming is a process that enables development actors to address tire cause and effect of HIV/AIDS.
In his welcome speech. Pornchai Suchitta, deputy representative of UNFPA Bangladesh, said multisectoral response is important for effective prevention of HIV.
"People of this country are now more pro-active and willing to talk about HIV and
AIDS. What we need now is to harmonize our efforts for meaningful result," he said, adding that big population in the country is a big challenge to keep the prevalence of HIV low and more advocacy is needed in (his regard.
Highlighting the government's initiatives in combat-
ing HIV/AIDS, Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, additional secretary to health and family welfare ministry, said, "AIDS is not only a burden for health but also a burden for development as it affects our productivity and household income.”
It is a threat for the country and the nation, he added.
It is time to review the National HIV/AIDS Policy which was formulated in 1997 as by this time situation has changed much, said Dr Mozammel Haque of UNODC.
He said policy makers should think of allocating budget from revenue sector in future rather than depending
an just donor agencies to work on HIV/AIDS.
The speakers said the programmes on IDUs and high risk groups and PLWHA should not be stopped for a single day while the issue of HIV/AIDS should be incorporated in the curriculum of non formal education also as it is introduced in formal education system.
Expressing optimism focusing the activities of the government and nongovernment organisations on this issue they said Bangladesh is in right track to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) that targets the halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by2015.
The speakers also recommended focusing on motivation about HIV/AIDS prevention, conducting more researches on AIDS related issues, access to government level data relating to AIDS/HIV should be easy for
people, talking to the youth and other vulnerable groups before adopting any policy and strategy, increasing budget for AIDS prevention programme, conducting, continuous monitoring and evaluation of AIDS prevention programme.
Habiba Akter of Ashar Alo Society, Shale Ahmed of Bandhu Social Welfare Society, Tasnim Azim of ICDDR.B, Dr M Ziya Uddin and Dr Ferdous Alam Shibib of NASP, Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, chief editor of BSS, Dr Zaman Ara of UNFPA, Farhana Haque of IUB, Mahfuza Rahman of Unesco, Zamiur Rahman of mass communication department, Parveen Rasheed of SMC, Avra Saha of UNAIDS, Moogdho Mim Mahzab and Saeda Bilkis Bani of UNFPA, Shah H Imam and Shahnoor Wahid of The Daily Star also spoke on the occasion.