• Home

MENA lags behind in spending on AIDS prevention

Only seven out of 20 member countries gave details of the national budget allocated to tackle the epidemic in their reports for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (Ungass) submitted in March this year.

Though the UAE said in its report that $17.6 million are spent in public funding annually, it said it was difficult to pinpoint the exact spending figures on AIDS since there was no clear budget from the Ministry of Health or local authorities.

The two-day meeting aims at shaping policies and providing 10-point consultations on prevention methods to member countries through the Dubai consensus statement on HIV.

While the UNAIDS in its report ‘Characterising the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the MENA’ criticised countries in the region for not keeping national AIDS programmes up to the mark, the organisation appreciated efforts in acknowledging the obstacles these countries faced to stem the spread of the disease such as injecting drug users (IDUs), female sex workers (FSM) and men having sex with men (MSM).

Giving examples and quoting from UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s Ungass reports, regional UNAIDS representative Nicole Massoud said, “Although treatment is free of charge for all UAE citizens, many chose to seek treatment overseas out of fear of stigma surrounding people who are HIV positive.”

“We still need to improve councils and integrate health bodies,” said Massoud.

The HIV/AIDS body also pointed out that none of the MENA countries had laws protecting high priority groups in the society including FSM and MSM. Experts said response on the epidemic in the region was low with poor surveillance methods, limited counselling and knowledge gaps – that the report aims to fulfil.

Innovative programmes were needed to tackle spread of the disease in a region where the numbers of infected has increased over the years, said the experts. At least 35,000 people were infected with HIV in 2008 and 412,000 are living with the disease in the region, said Hind Khatib Othman, a UNAIDS regional representative.

“These figures have stigmatised the region where knowledge on the disease is the lowest in the world,” she said. “We need to focus on key responders and develop better strategies in the region.”

Dr Mahmoud Fikri, CEO of Health Policies at the UAE health ministry said that though the disease was not a national problem in the country, the UAE stands hand in hand with other nations. “We are holding the conference at a time when the UAE is discussing strategies and policies to prevent HIV and offer treatment and care to residents,” he said.

He also said the cabinet had adopted a law to protect people living with HIV by allowing them to work without being discriminated against.

Dr Jamad Mashour from the regional office of the World Health Organisation said that though the report showed that prevalence of the disease was low in the region as compared to other parts of the world, there was still a vulnerable population that could get infected.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE