PESHAWAR, June 17: Experts have urged community elders in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to try and persuade workers returning from abroad to undertake screening for HIV/Aids.

Deputy Manager for Fata’s HIV/Aids control programme Dr Iftikhar Ali was addressing a training workshop for laboratory technicians here on Sunday.

He urged health workers to take community elders into confidence for identifying and screening of immigrant workers in their respective localities.

Fata’s health directorate had arranged the workshop to raise awareness among health professionals about the HIV/Aids virus.

Dr Ali said that a recent study conducted by the Aga Khan University had revealed that 80 per cent of the Aids patients in Pakistan were immigrant workers, the majority of which belong to tribal agencies.

The number of HIV/Aids cases recorded in Fata was 110 at the moment, he said, adding that this number could be much higher if the entire population was tested for the disease.

Most labourers hailing from Fata see call girls in UAE and other Middle Eastern countries during their stay there and are more at risk to contract the HIV/Aids virus. When these labourers approach their embassies for renewal of their visas and other documents, they are subjected to a compulsory screening, he said.