As the world marked World Aids Day earlier this month, the UN press office in Cairo held a conference that discussed the volume of AIDS cases in Egypt and the world. Walid Kamal Abdel-Azim, director of the AIDS programme at the Egyptian Health Ministry said that, even though the rate of incidence of AIDS in Egypt is still low by international standards, that rate is steadily rising. The Arab region, he said, has not reached the aspired control of AIDS infection.
In order to prevent infection with AIDS, Dr Abdel-Azim said, Egypt needs to raise awareness among the public, and also to enhance medical care services. “We have to reach the sectors of the population most at risk,” he said. “Otherwise, the future would carry health hazards for the entire community.” There are programmes to reach these sectors and offer them preventive medical care. This includes, among others, street children, refugees, prisoners, and young men and women. “We have also expanded our investigative lab services to cover a number of governorates; formerly these services were confined to Cairo.
Watani International
18 December 2015