One Day workshop on “Women Focused Capacity Building on Advocacy & Awareness raising among NGOs and CBOs about HIV/AIDS & Gender” was organized by All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) on Wednesday 20^th May 2009 at Pearl Continental Hotel, Abbottabad.

This workshop was held in collaboration with Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNFPA, Provincial AIDS Control Program (PACP), NWFP and Disaster Management Center, a project of Abbottonians Medical Association^®. The participants included members of the NGOs & CBOs in general and those working for HIV/AIDS Awareness, Control & Prevention in particular  After the inaugural session, Dr. Sabiha Syed, Vice Chairperson APWA gave the main objectives of the workshop. Formal introduction of the participants and the facilitators was done.

The facilitators who conducted the workshop included Dr. Noaman Siddiqui, Senior Lecturer Department of Pathology AMC and Secretary General Abbottonians Medical Association^®, Dr. Iram Sarwar, Senior Registrar, Gynae. & Obs., Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad and Dr. Junaid, Munsif Awan, Psychiatrist, NIMS, Abbottabad.  All the participants took a Pre Test that comprised of MCQs based on Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors. A brain storming session was held by Dr. Noaman who asked the participants “which single word comes in your mind regarding AIDS’. All the participants were then randomly divided into three groups and were asked to discuss the questionnaire in their respective groups. This was followed by group presentation by the group leader.

Dr. Noaman then gave a presentation on ‘An Overview of HIV/AIDS’. He discussed various aspects of HIV/AIDS like history of the virus, its modes of transmission, clinical presentations, diagnosis, prevention and current treatment options. He also stressed the need for public awareness as the number of HIV cases is on the rise in Pakistan. He informed the participants that so far 12 cases have been identified in Hazara region through the Voluntary Counseling & Testing Center (VCT), a project of AMA^®. Majority of these patients were deported from Saudia Arabia and UAE.Dr. Iram Sarwar gave a presentation on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT). She discussed the rates of HIV transmission from mother to child, the risk and strategies for prevention of mother to child transmission. She informed the participant the mother can take a single dose of a medicine that can prevent the transmission of infection to her child. She also emphasized the role of Voluntary Counseling & Testing in PMTCT. Dr Junaid Awan gave a presentation on the ‘Psychiatric Issues in HIV infected Patients’. He discussed the primary brain Infections in HIV, opportunistic infections and the disorders with psychotic feature like schizophrenia, bipolar illness. The issue of suicidal tendencies in HIV/AIDS patients was discussed in detail. He gave references of many studies related to the psychiatric issues concerning HIV/AIDS patients.  Question and Answer session was held in the end that was conducted by Dr. Samia Hashim, Senior Program Officer, UNAIDS. Many questions related to HIV/AIDS and breast feeding, sterilization of medical & surgical instruments, psychiatric problems in HIV/AIDS were deliberated upon. A video titled “Are we Keeping the Promise” by UNSCO was shown to the participants. 

Dr. Sabiha motivated the participants and their respective NGOs to actively help the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) of Swat, Dir & Buner. A video presentation on the relief work and free medical camps conducted by AMA^® was also shown at this occasion. In the end a Post-test was conducted. The net average gain between the Pre and Post Test was 17.1%. The recommendations regarding tackling of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan were obtained from the participants. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material was provided to all the participants. The participants were requested to provide their feedback regarding their participation in the Workshop on a prescribed Performa. In the end ‘Certificates of Participation’ were awarded to the participants by Dr. Sabiha Syed and Dr. Samia Hashim.The organizers highly appreciate the cooperation of UNAIDS, UNPFA and PACP, by providing support in organizing this workshop. Special thanks to all the participants who took time out of their busy schedule to actively participate in this workshop.

Workshop Participants