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World AIDS Day: Spike Of HIV Cases In Iran

Shoko Oda |
December 1, 2013 | 5:22 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

via Creative Commons
via Creative Commons
Sunday marked the 25th annual World AIDS Day, and while UNAIDS, an UN-affiliated programme on HIV/AIDS reported a 52% decrease in new HIV infections among children and 33% decrease among adults and children since 2001, Iran has seen a spike in new cases of the deadly disease.

The Iranian state television has reported that Iranians who tested HIV-positive has risen by 80% annually over the last decade. The state Television quoted Hassan Ghzaizadeh, the Health Minister, who commented on the increase in the number of HIV/AIDS patients in the country. 

Ghzaizadeh mentioned at a conference in Tehran that the infection rate has increased by 9 times over the last 11 years. Third of those who are HIV-positive reported that they became infected through sexual intercourse. Others reported the use of infected syringes as the cause. 

According to the reports, number of registered HIV-positive citizens in Iran are about 27,000, but many predict that there are more than what the estimates guess. Much of these cases go underreported as the topic was considered a taboo in the country. For women in Iran, being HIV-positive can mean immediate abandonment by their family and relatives. In addition, education to warn against risky sexual activities has been undermined in Iran; posters warning of risky sexual activities and methods to preventing HIV were posted in high schools during former President Khatami's term, while this was discontinued during former President Ahmadinejad's term.

Reach Executive Producer Shoko Oda here



 

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