PESHAWAR, Oct 4: HIV/Aids has become a family disease in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where locals transmitted the killer disease to their wives, who produced HIV-infected children, Mohamed Cisse, chief of Unicef Health and Nutrition Pakistan, said on Tuesday.

He made the disturbing statement at the inaugural ceremony of the first-ever Family Care Centre for HIV/Aids patients in Pakistan at Hayatabad Medical Complex, which was “desperately needed”.

Mr Cisse said the centre, the first of its kind in South Asia, would serve as a diagnostic and treatment facility for patients and would also provide counseling to families.

“There is a need to do away with the stigma attached with HIV/Aids. That stigma prevents the infected people from informing wives about their disease and thus, transmitting the deadly virus to them, who subsequently give birth to HIV-positive babies,” he said.

The Unicef official called for an end to the HIV/Aids stigma, saying this will help sufferers of the venereal disease openly tell families about their disease and save wives from it.

“Patients, including women and children, will receive all facilities under one roof. HIV-infected women will be provided antenatal care at the centre, while specially-trained doctors will be available to cater to the needs of children,” he said.Cisse said the centre would serve as the Centre of Excellence for South Asian and Central Asian States from where doctors and other health professional would get training in management of HIV patients.

He said though KP and Fata had reported 800 HIV/Aids cases, the number could be much more if all vulnerable population was tested.

He complained that majority of the people were unwilling to undergo tests due to stigmas attached with HIV/Aids.

Professor Dr Lubna Hassan, director of the centre, said the facility could be termed as landmark achievement in the medical history of the country and would prove milestone in identification of patients and safeguarding the lives of the vulnerable population.

“Recently, we screened 25,000 people of whom only three tested positive for the killer disease. Now after establishment of the centre, we will focus on patients and their relatives,” she said. Dr Lubna said Pakistan was still a HIV/Aids low prevalence country with only 0.01 infected population.

She, however, said risk factors were very high in the country and the disease was making inroads into the society due to high infection rates among intravenous drug users.

Chief Executive Hayatabad Medical Complex Dr Aftab Durrani said his institution was taking lead in establishment of the centre of excellence in many medical specialties and credited the team work which would go a long way for treating patients.

He also said only four doctors had presently been deputed. He demanded appointment of permanent staff for the centre.

Health minister Zahir Ali Shah, who was the chief guest, said the government would try to solve staff shortage at the earliest.

“We want to concentrate on development of state-run health facilities as they were used by the poor people, who cannot afford visiting private hospitals,” he said.

Manager of the Provincial Aids Control Programme Dr Sher Muhammad also spoke on the occasion.

Earlier, an HIV-infected child inaugurated the centre.