SARGODHA -  Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the health department higher-ups to get immediate access to a remote village, Kot Imrana whereat the presence of over 250 AIDS patients had been claimed in a letter written to the CM.

The CM ordered the health authorities to reach the village in the shortest time possible, launch investigation and submit him report at the earliest.

Responding to the CM orders, District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Nusrat Riaz reached the village and established a free camp for the examination of HIV AIDS. Pakistan Medical Association president Dr Sikander Hayat Warraich also visited the village along with a team of doctors.

In the letter, Numberdar Muhammad Akram had written that 3,500 individuals resided at Kot Imrana village, expressing concerns that over 250 of them contained HIV. He added that the number of patients had been increasing with the passage of time which concerned locals greatly.

District Health Authority CEO Dr Nusrat Riaz said that medical examination of locals was underway, adding that 22 people had been diagnosed with the virus. According to locals, a quack namely Allah Ditta had became the reason of AIDS 15 years ago in the village and he also died of the same disease.

CAFE FOR LITERARY ACTIVITIES

The district administration is planning to build a café meant for literary activities at Khanewal Civil Club.

This was stated by Khanewal Assistant Commissioner Agha Zaheer Abbas Sherazi during a media talk here the other day.

He said that the administration intended to build a Khanewal Tea House on the pattern of Lahore Tea House. He told the media that two multinational companies and a local feed mill have promised to meet the cost of the project. The project aims at promoting literary activities, he noted, adding that it would be a forum for intellectual discussion. He said that students of literature and journalists would be able to meet in a spacious hall for discussion with tea and snacks.