MULTAN, April 4 The district health department has started collecting data on barbers to protect the citizens against hepatitis and HIV/AIDS under the Millennium Development Goals.

According to the plan, the district administration will issue licences to barbers, dentists and beauty parlors after the district coordination officer will approve bylaw for the purpose. Unlicensed clinics of dentists, barber shops and beauty parlors will be sealed.

Executive District Officer (Health) Dr Islam Zafar told this correspondent that a survey for the preparation of the lists of barbers in the district had been started. He said the health department teams were collecting data on barbers at the union council level.

Initially, he said, the department had contacted barbers and dentists. The number of dentists in the district being small, he said, they had assured the department of their cooperation in this regard.

Those working on the project, he said, had handed over a list of 10 instruments used by barbers to their representatives to keep them hygienic. An awareness campaign involving dental and barber associations would be launched and training sessions would be launched for them, he added.

One of the objectives of the campaign was to make the dentists and barbers use disposable material as far as possible besides using sterilisation system. He said the tests of hepatitis B, C and HIV/AIDS of the employees at barber shops and dentists' clinics would be conducted.

The health inspection teams, according to the EDO, would visit the shops of barbers and clinics of dentists to check hygiene standards. The licences would be issued to only those clinics and shops that met the required standards, he said.

Dr Zafar said the employees would be vaccinated against hepatitis B and those with positive results would be provided treatment free of cost.

The turn of beauty parlors would come in the next phase, he said, and the women running them would be invited to awareness sessions and seminars. They also would get licences after examination of the facilities, he said.

He said the DCO would approve bylaws for issuance of licenses.

DCO Syed Ali Murtaza said the bylaws had yet to be drafted as these would be approved by the local government secretary.

Ghulam Sarwar, a barber who is running his shop at Dera Adda, said he was unaware of any such move by the government.

Three helpers work with Sarwar who said he was not member of any (barber) association.

Some barber associations were operating in various parts of the city, especially in posh areas such as Cantonment and Gulgasht Colony.

He said the utensils he used were always clean and could not harm anyone.

A dentist of Hussain Aagahi Bazaar also said no one had contacted him so far for the drive. “Neither any representative of dentists' association nor any official of health department has contacted me,” he said while promising cooperation with the department.

According to the figures of the health ministry, an estimated 14 million people are suffering from hepatitis in the country -- 8.8 million (hepatitis C) and 5.6 million (hepatitis B).

The number of AIDS/HIV registered patients in Pakistan till Sept 30, 2009 was 2,628.