HIV/ AIDS prevention and drug harm reduction program of ROD

Injecting Drug Users (IDU)are the main reason behind rapid and momentous escalation of HIV /AIDS infections. Although ROD is still not being funded by any mainstream International Donor, it still endeavors to eliminate or reduce HIV infections.

IN case any international donor is interested helping ROD:-

ROD has three plans to prevent HIV/AIDS.

1) Detoxification of IDUs. ROD plans to establish a Detox center for IDU especially and other drug Users generally.
2) To launch an awareness campaign for Sex Workers (Male and Female)and disseminating information about prevention of HIV/AIDS in schools and media.
3) To distribute disposable syringes and distilled water ( in some cases Avil) among IDU, to avert them sharing syringes and needles.

ROD entreats to all the International Donors to extend their hands and come forward and help ROD, eliminating HIV/AIDS from Pakistan.

To see the photographs of IDUs at Sargodha,click on the below link, or simply copy and paste it into you browser::

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11026729@N07/sets/72157614821247365/

Sordid Drainage system of Pakistan (Survey by ROD)

Sordid Drainage system of Pakistan

Written by; Ms Khadijah Shah (ROD)

The water is polluted due to addition of chemical material of organic and inorganic nature. It is because of agricultural and industrial activities expansion. There are issues of solid waste management, disposal of medical, toxic, hospital waste, dumping of industrial and domestic effluent into the sea, smoldering garbage dumps, power plants, noise and air Pollution, water contamination, discharge of gases and chemicals from industries, cutting trees, elimination of mangroves along coastal lines and coastal erosion which should be taken in great consideration. Our drinking water is unsafe, and our factories are continuously releasing harmful by-products and discharging various types of effluents in our rivers and sea while thousands of vehicles throughout the cities continuously emit smoke, but conviction of the offenders is still a far cry.

I would like to draw the attention of the authorities to the unhygienic conditions in several places of Pakistan. Anyone who visits them can feel the need for having better arrangements for their cleanliness. There are malodorous rubbish heaps to be seen here and there in the streets with flies hovering over them causing and dispersing diseases.

Then there are puddles of muck outside the houses, providing appropriate conditions for the generation of mosquitoes on them, causing malaria that is a common disease here.

Tons of garbage and rubbish are dumped underground. This causes insanitary. The solid waste blocks the main sewage, resulting into the blockage of the main drainage and eventually the dirty water starts leaking out. Such areas filled with garbage hills need immediate cleaning. During the rainy season situation gets critical with outbreaks of cholera and other seasonal epidemics.

With more roads with swarming traffic and aircrafts’ traffic, the atmosphere is further polluted.
With enormous increase in the population, need of sanitation facilities, houses, roads and other facilities gets momentum, resulting into heaps of garbage, shrinking the jungle territories and deficiency of clean drinking water.

According to Dr. Hassan Murtaza Shah (M.B.B.S), sewage waste which is often left off the road by sanitary workers which contains pathogenic bacteria that cause diseases like typhoid, typhus, cholera and hepatitis. Soon that waste desiccates and turns into dust and enters into our houses making them polluted and unhygienic.This dust can infect breathing passages, reduce lungs' working capacity, and causing dyspneic, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and it dries out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interferes with the body’s ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness. The dirty stagnant water had increased the number of cholera and measles patients. He said out of every 100 patients, 20 had measles, while 15 were affected by cholera. He also told us about the case of a 5 year old girl Sara Ilyas, who died due to the disease Cholera. This disease caught hold of this innocent victim because her surrounding and atmosphere was full of pollution. The gutter system was not proper their and was not cleaned regularly.

Mohammad Javed, a paramedic and a child specialist, said out of every 10 child patients, six suffered from cholera.

Hafiz Muhammad Anwer of Jhang Batir said his six children and brothers were suffering from measles and held the stagnant dirty water responsible for diseases. He said his children could not go to school. Hafiz Shaukat Ali of Kund said his parents were sick but he could not manage to take them to hospital because of the dirty stagnant water. He said he had to hire a rickshaw to cover just 30 feet distance to reach his doorstep from the road. These people tried to ask help from the Government but no one had paid attention to their pleas.

There should be proper arrangements for the regular removal of rubbish from the street. The rubbish trucks or carriages of the Corporation should carry it away daily. There should be arrangements for proper drainage of dirty water from the streets. The waste filthy black water should not be left on the streets as it is very harmful and the streets should be kept neat and clean. Proper steps should be taken as soon as possible to prove that Pakistan is in true sense a clean, “PAKEEZA” ( Pious, flawless and without blemish) country.

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Data /Information collected and compiled by ROD Fact Finding Team comprising of;

Jawad Mazhar, Nadeem Samuel, Adil Naseem, Adnan Saeed, Imran Mazher and Ms Khadijah Shah

Special Thanks to;

Dr. Hassan Murtaza Shah
(M.B.B.S)

Mohammad Javed
(Paramedic & Child Specialist)

Recommended by;

Mr Ferhan Mazher,

(Chairman)

‘Rays of Development Organization’, Sargodha, Pakistan

www.RaysOfDevelopment.Org

JawadMazhar.BlogSpot.Com

00923216012462, 00923068989406

(Compiled by: Jawad Mazhar (ROD)