ISLAMABAD - National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) Monday kicked off a month-long campaign in connection with the World AIDS Day, falling on December 1, with focus on creating awareness among the youth. The launching session was chaired by the National Programme Manager of the NACP Dr Hasan Abbas Zaheer. In his address, Dr Hasan Abbas highlighted the role of media in prevention and control of HIV & AIDS. The campaign will cover diverse range of audience including youth in and out of school/universities, general public and advocacy at various levels. The World Aids Day is observed every year on December 1, since 1988 all over the world and the theme for this year is Universal Access and Human Rights. The main objective of this campaign is to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination and behaviour change in the individuals especially youth. Addressing the gathering, Dr Zaheer said although the disease prevalence rate was not alarming in Pakistan. However, efforts are being made to control AIDS further spread, he said. Across the country so far, 97,400 HIV and AIDS patients have been registered with the NACP, he added. Efforts are also being made to bring a mechanism that would ensure safe blood transfusion, as infected blood is a major source of causing this disease, he noted. About the role of media, he said, media had played important role in creating awareness among masses for prevention and control of HIV & AIDS in the country. He opined that after 25 years into the epidemic, public understanding of how HIV is prevented and basic awareness about AIDS and its impact is sorely lacking in many parts of the world, particularly among women and young people. With its wide-reaching, global infrastructure and communications expertise, the medias contribution to change the course of the AIDS crisis is virtually unparalleled, he continued. He said that AIDS had enveloped nations in its grip to the extent that economies are in the imminent danger of collapsing due to the loss in work force. It is these most productive age groups that are hardest hit by the epidemic. There still exists neither vaccine nor cure for the disease but there is opportunity to slow if not halt the spread of the infection even in the absence of effective and affordable treatment, he concluded. Today Pakistan stands at a crucial point where urgent and definite actions and interventions can make a difference.