RAJSHAHI, June 11, 2023 (BSS) - Integrated efforts of all the government and non-government organizations concerned has become indispensable to prevent HIV/AIDS spread.

Community awareness along with participation can be the best way of bringing all the stakeholders and other gatekeepers under necessary awareness programmes and mitigating its risks.

Health experts and development activists made the observation while addressing a view sharing meeting with religious leaders, health service providers, law enforcement agency and development activists in Rajshahi today.
 
Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) organized the meeting at the office conference hall of Civil Surgeon (CS) under the 'Prioritized HIV Prevention and Treatment Services for Key Populations in Bangladesh Project' supported by ICDDR's and Global Fund.
 
CS Dr Abu Sayeed Muhammad Faruque, Medical Officer Dr Bayzeed-ul Islam, Senior Health Education Officer Muhammad Shamsuzzaman and Editor of Daily Sonar Desh Akbarul Hassan Millat spoke on the occasion.

DAM DIC Manager Kabir Hossain, Outreach Supervisor Ferdous Alam and Medical Assistant Mahmudul Hassan and icddr,b Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Hafizul Islam also spoke disseminating their expertise on the issue.

Kabir Hossain gave an overview of their HIV/AIDS prevention activities during his PowerPoint presentation.
 
Main thrust of the meeting was to sensitize the leaders of influence together with strengthening coordination among all the government and non-government organizations concerned to expedite the HIV/AIDS prevention activities in the region.
 
Dr Abu Sayeed said HIV/AIDS is not only a health issue but also a social development concern. He stressed the need for more coordination among different organizations and stakeholders to attain cherished results.
 
He added that only the government or any single organization isn't capable of resisting the HIV/AIDS infection as its risk and vulnerability is gradually being increased due to various reasons.
 
CS Dr Sayeed Faruque mentioned that the main challenge to prevent HIV/AIDS is now being judged as the stigma and negative attitude towards the vulnerable population like injecting drug users, sex workers and professional blood donors.
 
He, however, emphasized the need for protecting the infected persons from their human rights violations as they are also an integral part of the society.
 
Universal access is a commitment to scale up access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support from the government development partners and civil society, he added.