KOHAT, Feb 28: NWFP Health Minister Inayat Ullah Khan on Wednesday said that the deadly disease of Aids was spreading fast in the country and the number of registered cases had exceeded the figure of 3,000. He feared that the number of unregistered cases was around 200,000.

Inaugurating the Aids Prevention and Treatment Centre at the KDA Medical Complex, the minister said that the facility had been established in Kohat primarily for the convenience of patients belonging to Aurakzai Agency, Kurram Agency and its surrounding areas where the number of patients was large mostly among Pakistanis who had returned from abroad.

He added that the centre was the second in the NWFP as one was already functioning at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar. Both the centres had been established with the financial and technical help of the National Aids Control Programme and Global Fund where patients suffering from tuberculosis and hepatitis would also be provided free treatment.

He lauded the efforts of the National Aids Control Programme and the Global fund for setting up the Aids centre in Kohat within a short period of three months, and added that the provincial government was also doing its best to provide better health facilities to the people at the union council level.

He called up on the staff of the centre to create awareness among the people about how to avoid the disease because being an Islamic state it could cause numerous social and family problems.

He clarified that Aids was a more serious problem in developing and poor countries as compared to developed countries where the governments had more resources, advance technical know-how and the people were well-educated.

The manager of the National Aids Control Programme, Asma Bukhari, announced that the initial diagnosis and treatment, which cost $500, would be borne jointly by both the departments.

The function was attended by the director, general health, Dr Jalilur Rehman; in charge of the newly-established Aids centre, Dr Irshad Noor; the medical superintendent of the KDA, Medical Complex, Dr Khizar Hayat; District Health Officer Adil Marjan, union council nazims and councillors.