ISLAMABAD:  President Mamnoon Hussain has stressed the need for strengthening the monitoring system to minimise the damages caused by floods.
During a briefing by the Ministry of Water and Power on medium and long term flood protection projects at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday, he stressed the need for a strong coordination between the centre and provinces to prevent violation of safety measures.

Expressing grief over the loss of precious lives and property during recent floods, the president called for effective measures by all concerned departments to prevent such losses in future.

He directed the Ministry of Water and Power to undertake concrete projects to prevent recurrence of damages from floods and to devise strategy to drain out floodwater from populated areas. He further desired that measures may also be adopted to control the damages in Sindh caused by Left Bank Outfall Drain and Right Bank Outfall Drain. The president noted with satisfaction that experienced experts were working in the Federal Flood Commission. Federal secretary Ministry of Water and Power, chairman Federal Flood Commission and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, talking to Steven Kraus, Director UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific, who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr yesterday, emphasised that the government accorded high priority to prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in the country and the National AIDS Control Programme was enjoying political support at the highest level. The president commended the efforts for eradication of HIV virus and expressed his gratitude to United Nations for undertaking this noble work for the good of humanity. He appreciated the continued support of United Nations towards prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan.

Steven Kraus stated that Pakistan has made important progress in the last eighteen months in initiating community based testing for HIV/AIDS which will lead to treatment and prevention of the fatal disease.