Pakistan NGOs call for Church action on HIV

(December 13, 2010) Christian non-profit organizations have urged the Catholic Church to join the efforts to help HIV/AIDS victims in Pakistan. “There is no Church-run project for people living with HIV and AIDS at present in the country,” Franciscan Brother Khushi Lal, officer-in-charge of the New Lights Aids Control Society in Karachi, told Ucanews in Lahore. He said it was ideally placed to play a greater role. “The Catholic Church has the resources,” he said. Brother Lal spoke on the sidelines of a meeting between faith-based organizations and local partners of Global Fund, the largest international agency to combat HIV AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. It was jointly organized by the Aids Awareness Society (AAS) and Rasti Foundation. “Christian NGOs are segregated and need to be brought into mainstream,” said Nihal, AAS director, to the representatives of six NGOs including Caritas Pakistan. There are only two Christian organizations working on capacity building and treatment of AIDS patients, Nihal said. They also highlighted the problems of shortage of drugs to control the disease and the high cost of medicine. Brother Lal said his organization is sending medicines to more than 500 patients in the westernmost Balochistan province where there are no care and support centres for HIV positive people. He said the situation is similar in the northern tribal areas. According to the National Aids Control Program there are 97,400 HIV-infected adults in Pakistan.