KARACHI: To address the health issues relating to schoolchildren, the Sindh government has decided to conduct blood screening once a year of all those students enrolled in public and private educational institutions across the province, officials said on Tuesday.

They said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took the decision during his meeting with Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Director-General Maj Gen Musarrat Nawaz Malik at the CM House.

The CM said the reports about use of narcotics by students of educational institutions in the federal capital had immensely worried him.

`I want you (DG ANF) to help the Sindh government to combat this menace,` he said.

The ANF chief said his force had started working on it.

`The ANF needs support of the provincial government on this issue; especially we require your (CM) guidance and approval. Now when you have entrusted this task to us, the ANF would [deliver] better results,` he was quoted as saying.

CM Shah said his government had already launched a targeted operation against the drug mafia. The ANF had to help the provincial government to eliminate the organised gangs involved in supply of drugs in Karachi, he added.`When they (drug mafia) move unchecked they can penetrate anywhere, particularly in the educational institutions,` he said, adding there should be strong mechanism of surveillance for which police and excise and taxation departments would help and support the ANF.

The meeting discussed the decision about the government-sponsored blood screening of students receiving education in public and private sector and agreed that it was an important initiative to keep an eye on the health issues relating to the young population.

`The government would bear expenses of students receiving education in public sector while educational institutions run under the private sector would be instructed to start a policy of screening of blood of every student enrolled with them at least once a year, he said, adding that the policy would help control diseases like hepatitis etc, as well.

Mr Shah asl(ed the health secretary to duly draft a proposal and instructed his principal secretary to send his orders to the education department to work out a detailed plan and submit it before the chief minister for approval.

The ANF chief invited CM Shah to inaugurate the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Model Addiction and Treatment Centre (MATRC) in Lyari constructed by the Sindh government for Rs6 million, which the latter accepted. The CM alsoapproved the proposal to provide a building to the ANF for establishment of MATRC in Sukkur.

On the advice of the DG ANF, Mr Shah directed the health secretary to establish a 10-bed facility in every district hospital for treatment of drug addicts. `Every DHQ needs to have a designated facility for treatment of drug addicts,` he said.

CM Shah issued directives to the Board of Revenue (BoR) to arrange for a 10-acre piece of land for the ANF at Mochko, in Karachi West, where the force would establish its police station.

A similar portion of land was also required by the ANF for its police station at Hyderabad. A portion of the defunct SRTC (Sindh Regional Transport Corporation) at Hyderabad was identified for which the chief minister ordered his principaisecretary to coordinate with the transport department and transfer the space to the ANF.

Mr Shah also asked the home secretary to coordinate between police, ANF and excise and taxation departments for launching a coordinated operation againstdrugmafiaoperatinginKarachi.

`I would not allow them (drug mafia) to play with the lives of our innocent children. They are our future and it becomes our collective responsibility to safeguard them from all evils,` he said, urging the parents to support the government.