HYDERABAD, July 14: The deputy programme manager of the National Aids Control Programme, Mr Qamar Ahmed, has said that 70,000 to 80,000 HIV/Aids infected people have been estimated in the country out of whom 25,000 to 30,000 have been assumed to be in Sindh.

He was speaking at a meeting of the district task force on HIV/Aids here on Thursday.

He said that there were 1,300 HIV positive patients in Sindh out of 3,000 in the country.

He said that injection drug users were the main cause of spread of HIV/Aids.

He said that immigration, unsafe sex, reuse of syringes and transfusion of infected blood were mostly responsible for the spread of the disease.

He said that such practices must be stopped through different methods to prevent more people contracting the disease.

District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil stressed the need for community participation to combat the HIV/Aids menace.

He said that it was high time to adopt a comprehensive strategy against the deadly disease for which each organisation, NGO and individual was equally responsible.

He said that the district government was giving top priority to the health sector and working on a war footing to provide clean and safe drinking water with provision of best medical facilities to people.

He said that at present the district government was providing medical facilities to 3.5 million patients at its 62 big and small hospitals from its own resources.

He said that it was only the community which could discourage such elements.

He said that in addition to providing regular medical facilities to people, the district government had decided to prepare a plan of action against HIV/Aids and to implement it with the collaboration of organisations, NGOs and community.

He said that the district government had a good team of health officers and shortly a meeting of health officers and experts would be convened to discuss and decide about the action plan in hand and to establish awareness centres at existing hospitals by enhancing capacity building of doctors and paramedical staff working there.

He said that the third step of the strategy would be to maintain control over behavioural risk factors responsible for spread of HIV/Aids and to monitor HIV prevalence through detective methods and organisational performance so that the menace could be combated through scientific methods.