KARACHI, Feb 21: Police officials will be tested for HIV at the police training schools and colleges in the province, Dawn learnt on Thursday.

However, the screening would be done on a voluntarily basis and would be part of the AIDS awareness programme, sources in the Sindh Aids Control Programme (SACP) said.

Police also fall in the high-risk segment of society who are more prone to get HIV infection.

Other such high-risk groups are youths, prisoners, intravenous drug users, commercial sex workers and expatriates living in Dubai, an official of the SACP said.

As part of the programme, camps would be set up at the police training colleges and schools in the province where police officials would be encouraged to get themselves tested for the virus, and at the same time lectures and printed material containing information, signs and symptoms of the disease would be available for the policemen, said the programme coordinator for the SACP, Dr Sharaf Ali Shah.

A meeting in this connection had already taken place between the representatives of the Sindh police and SACP at the office of the additional chief secretary of Sindh.

However, dates and venues were yet to be finalized, officials said.

A police official of the Sindh police was tested HIV positive a few years back, He had volunteered for the test. The policeman, who was posted at the special branch, visited the office of the SACP with complaints of some other illness, where he was tested HIV positive.

The SACP is also working at the police hospital where awareness programme is already in progress, Dr Shah added.

During the last five years around nine women prisoners were tested positive for HIV at the women prison.

All of them were foreign nationals from African countries, France and United States.

Similarly, at Central Jail, Karachi, six male prisoners were tested positive for HIV, including a “Khapiya” who used to shuttle between Mumbai and Karachi.

The patient still turns up at SACP for follow-up, sources said.

Similarly, a child prisoner was tested HIV positive, at the Juvenile Jail Karachi a few years ago.

Interestingly, at the Landhi Jail, where a significant number of intravenous drug users are lodged, no such case came up, during the screening, SACP officials said.

Officials said that screening campaign was likely to be initiated from the Razakabad police training college located on the National Highway.

Similar camps would be set up in other police training colleges like Saeedabad police training college and Shahdadpur police training school in the interior of Sindh.

Police officials undergoing training at these respective schools and colleges would have a better opportunity to get themselves tested for the virus, but at the same time rest of the police force could also avail this chance, officials said.

Recently, similar camp was organised at the police hospital where policemen were tested for hepatitis and administered vaccination for the disease.