Word: hiv
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...conference was told that a new HIV infection occurs every ten minutes in the Arab world, and the region is threatened with a generalized AIDS pandemic similar to that of sub-Saharan Africa unless bold and effective measures are quickly implemented. Anywhere from 67,000 to 200,000 new infections occurred - and some 58,000 people died from AIDS - in the Arab world in 2005, but accurate data and surveys are lacking...
...Religious leaders at the conference addressed themselves to some of the taboos inhibiting an effective response to HIV-AIDS. Some called on the faithful to accept AIDS patients and not close the doors of mercy in their faces even if they are viewed as having sinned - God forgives, and so must society, was the message. Religious leaders have a pivotal role in the campaign against AIDS in the Arab world, given the taboo nature of any discussion of sexuality and sexual freedom and the deeply religious nature of the prevailing social norms. Plainly, as the HIV-infection figures show, sexual...
...conference organizers get the clerics on board for a conference dedicated to tackling this taboo? Dr. Ihab Kharrat, a consultant with the regional AIDS program UNDP/HARPAS, says one of the most effective methods his organization used to mobilize religious leaders was to to bring them face to face with HIV-infected people and have them tell their stories. And they framed the discussion with the clerics of AIDS on the basis of non-judgmental religious compassion - the conference saw the signing of what is called the Chahama Pact in Cairo last week, establishing a network of religious leaders under...
...Khadija Moalla, the regional coordinator for UNDP/HARPAS, a regional HIV/AIDS program, is extremely depressed and frustrated. She has been active in this campaign since 2002, and admits that she and other activists face a daunting challenge. "There is silence, denial, stigma and discrimination regarding HIV in the Arab World," says Moalla. Although most Arab governments have national programs to combat AIDS, these are nowhere near equal to the scale of the challenge. For example, the amount of treatment drugs made available through the public health system in Sudan is well short of the number of infections in that country...
...Eighty-five percent of those who are HIV positive are unaware that they are," says Moalla. Anti-retroviral drug treatment is available through the public health system in many of these countries, but few seek it also because of the social stigma and discrimination. Nor have Arab countries adopted laws to protect the civil rights of HIV-AIDS sufferers. Some statistics suggest that 4 out of 5 women HIV sufferers in the Arab World were infected by their husbands. And when the husband dies of the disease, his family will often disown the woman for fear she may be contagious...