H. E. Mr. Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Secretary General of SAARC, inaugurated Video Conferencing facility and digital library at the SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre in Bhaktapur, Nepal, today.

 

Addressing the officials present on the occasion, the Secretary General lauded the initiative taken by the Centre in creating the Video Conferencing facility. He expressed the hope that the facility will enable the Centre to carry out its functions more efficiently in a cost-effective manner, particularly through regular contacts with the members of its Governing Board and National Focal Points.

 

The Secretary General also appreciated the launching of the digital library, which he described as the “state-of-the art” facility in today’s world of Information Age. He expressed the hope that the digital library, which is accessible through a password, will be of great use to students and scholars in the pursuit of their learning. Medical Universities/Colleges and research institutions will also be able to benefit from the treasure of knowledge available in the digital library.

 

The Secretary General congratulated Dr. R. P. Bichha, Director of the Centre and his dedicated team on these achievements. He also thanked the Director for his able leadership in guiding the affairs of the Centre since his joining last year.

 

While in STAC, the Secretary General also addressed the participants attending the Workshop on e-Library organized by the Centre. On the occasion, he also distributed Staff of the Year Award-2017 to Mr. Krishna Basnet, Administrative Officer, and certificates of appreciation to three other officials of the Centre on their outstanding performance.

 

Since its establishment in 1994, STAC has been playing an important role in the control of Tuberculosis, particularly through the launch of the SAARC Regional Strategy for Control of TB in 2013.  In recognition of its outstanding performance, the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Governing Board declared STAC as a Centre of Excellence.  

 

Besides STAC, SAARC has three other Regional Centres, namely, SAARC Agriculture Centre (Dhaka); SAARC Energy Centre (Islamabad); and SAARC Cultural Centre (Colombo). An interim Unit of the SAARC Disaster Management Centre is functional in Gujarat, India. These Centres facilitate collaboration among the Member States of SAARC in specialized fields.

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Kathmandu, 12 April 2018