LARKANA: Senior civil judge and judicial magistrate-H of Ratodero Ali Nasir Baloch on Saturday allowed police to get the doctor, who was accused of spreading HIV in the town, tested for AIDS at Aga Khan University Hospital`s laboratory as another 57 people were found infected with the deadly virus after blood screening at the taluka hospital on the 14th day.

Ratodero SHO Sartaj Jagirani told Dawn that he had submitted an application to the court, seeking permission to get the doctor`sblood test done at any laboratory of his choice.

The court ordered the doctor`s test be carried out at Aga Khan Lab`s branch in Larkana and remanded him for the fifth time since his arrest in police custody for three days. Earlier, the doctor had declined to have his test carried out for HIV/AIDS when he was brought to Larkana AIDS treatment centre three days ago.

The doctor was later shifted to the laboratory and his blood sample was taken for the tests, said the SHO, adding the test results would be released on Monday evening.

He said the test result would greatly help the joint investigation team (JIT) formed byDIG Irfan Baloch and headed by QambarShahdadkot SSP Kamran Panjotha to reach an informed conclusion. The JIT also had three doctors as members who were inducted by secretary of health on the request of Larkana DIG.

The camp set up at Ratodero taluka hospital continued blood screening of people on the 14th consecutive day and examined as many as 1,548 people from Ratodero and its suburbs and of them 57 were found to have HIV, including 14 adults and 43 children.

Dr Sikandar Memon, programme manager of Sindh AIDS Control Programme, said that 9,082 people had been tested so farin 14 days` exercise at blood screening camp at Ratodero.

Of them, 393 were found to have HIV, including 312 children and 81 adults, he said. He said that PPHI had already detected five HIV positive cases. Further tests of the infected persons were being carried out through CD-4 machine prior to the start of the treatment. The HIV centre had currently two machines which assessed 50 to 60 cases, he said.

About the reasons behind an overwhelming number of children among the infected persons, he said that it was a matter of great concern.