Tests or arrests: 9,000 out of 90,000 cops have hepatitis
No salaries if you don't give a blood sample.
KARACHI:
Nine thousand policemen out of 90,000 have so far tested positive for hepatitis, according to data gathered from a campaign ordered by Inspector General of Police Fayyaz Ahmed Laghari.
Anyone who refuses to undergo the test will be arrested and their salary withheld. Members of the force have until May 30 to come forward. AIG Welfare Ali Sher Jakhrani said that the orders for arrests have been issued because since the campaign started, certain police officials have been trying to avoid it.
Of those who tested positive, 3,000 are from Karachi, while the proportion is higher in rural Sindh. The welfare department has a fund with which their treatment will be started immediately. There are a total of 115,000 policemen in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2011.
Nine thousand policemen out of 90,000 have so far tested positive for hepatitis, according to data gathered from a campaign ordered by Inspector General of Police Fayyaz Ahmed Laghari.
Anyone who refuses to undergo the test will be arrested and their salary withheld. Members of the force have until May 30 to come forward. AIG Welfare Ali Sher Jakhrani said that the orders for arrests have been issued because since the campaign started, certain police officials have been trying to avoid it.
Of those who tested positive, 3,000 are from Karachi, while the proportion is higher in rural Sindh. The welfare department has a fund with which their treatment will be started immediately. There are a total of 115,000 policemen in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2011.