Access to Treatment

1
Access to Treatment

• Qaisar Ismail
• CRY- Coalition on Rights and Responsibilities of
  Youth
• Pakistan

2
The problem

• The Government of North West Frontier province
  does not consider the HIV/AIDS as a problem of
  the Province as they deem it a problem of the
  West not of the Muslims.
• The high prices and non-availability of ARV and
  other AIDS drugs.
• The taboos that HIV/AIDS is wrath of God towards
  bad people.
• Confidential HIV-testing and counseling to find
  out if they are infected is unavailable or not
  adapted.
• Ignorance of health care workers about best
  practice standards of treatment and care of HIV
  and on how to work with populations at risk for
  HIV

3
Addressing the problem

• Advocacy with Provincial Government
• Awareness raising seminars for policy makers
• Awareness raising programs for leadership of
  Health care workers
• Seminars for Community activists and Civil
  Society Organizations and media
• Meeting with pharmaceutical companies
• Meetings with Media persons
• Developing and Printing IEC material

4
Main components of the project funded by the
Collaborative Fund

• Staff-Project Coordinator
• IEC Material Development and Printing
• Communication
• Seminars for decision makers and Civil Society
• Office costs

5
Activities

• Developed IEC Material which included a poster
  and pamphlets
• Monthly based meetings with Media persons
• Meetings with Pharmaceutical Companies and
  distributors
• Monthly meetings with the Health Department and
  Ministry
• Mobilizing the Provincial AIDS control program
  and Health ministry of Government of North West
  Frontier Province of Pakistan to establish ARV
  center in Peshawar

6
Lessons learnt

• Lobbying and developing personal contacts with
  decision makers bring change
• Advocacy and lobbying is a regular processes and
  activity to make the situation better
• Journalist and Media people are looking for hot
  news and they are not interested on issues of
  people living with HIV/AIDS as they do not
  consider it an issue of Pakistan
• Young people and especially coming from
  university get special attention in the
  Government offices

7

• Thank you