Health and Family Welfare Minister Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain said this in a meeting of national steering committee on implementation of the three-year Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP) at his ministry yesterday.

In the meeting, some 20 operational plans of HNPSP were approved involving an estimated cost of Tk 1,752.55crore. Earlier, 11 operational plans were approved on June 2.

State Minister for Health Mizanur Rahman Sinha, Planning Commission Secretary M Fazlur Rahman, Health Secretary AFM Sarwar Kamal, Establishment Secretary Safaraj Hossain and high officials concerned were present in the meeting, said a handout.

The health minister told the meeting that awareness programmes were not enough to prevent fatal diseases like HIV/AIDS. "We need to take preventive measures too."

He directed the authorities concerned to give emphasis on the frontier areas of the country for establishing the new safe blood transfusion centres.