Free AIDS screening, treatment initiative kicks off

A programme offering free AIDS screening, all essential tests, and complete treatment through special clinics at district and tehsil levels has been launched in Punjab, including Rawalpindi. Medical research has declared AIDS, long seen as a disease of fear, to be treatable.

Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir and Secretary Health Nadia Saqib have directed the Health and Population Welfare Department to focus on free testing and patient-friendly counselling under the Punjab AIDS Control Programme.

Director Punjab AIDS Control Programme Dr Naveed Akhtar Malik said special clinics have been made fully functional at Tehsil Headquarters Hospitals and District Headquarters Hospitals across Punjab. He said a website of the Health and Population Welfare Department has also been launched as part of the awareness campaign. Dr Malik explained that those affected by AIDS include intravenous drug users, people injured by contaminated syringes during work, and sex workers.

These individuals are being provided HIV tests, PCR tests, and CD4 tests completely free of cost.

He added that individuals with positive reports are given free medicines and counselling, ensuring recovery.

Dr Malik further said that a state-of-the-art Punjab Public Health Laboratory is operating in Lahore, where four million tests were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic. This lab has now been linked with the Punjab AIDS Control Programme to receive samples from all districts of Punjab, conduct tests, and issue reports.