SAUDI ARABIA: Riyadh hosts conference on HIV/AIDS

Record ID: 189090

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Riyadh hosts conference on HIV/AIDS
  • Date: 26th November 2012
  • Summary: EDITORS NOTE: SENDING FULL SCRIPT RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (NOVEMBER 25, 2012) (REUTERS) WIDE OF STAGE WITH OFFICIALS SEATED AND LARGE SCREEN PROJECTING DURING CONFERENCE ON HIV/AIDS PEOPLE ATTENDING CONFERENCE WOMAN SEATED WHILE ATTENDING CONFERENCE PLACARD PROMOTING EVENT WITH VARIOUS HIV/AIDS-RELATED LOGOS INCLUDING ONE WRITTEN IN ARABIC, READING: "ZERO AIDS" DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNAIDS, JAN BEAGLE, WALKING UP TO PODIUM TO DELIVER SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNAIDS, JAN BEAGLE, SAYING: "Antiretroviral therapy has emerged as a powerful force for saving lives. In the last 24 months the numbers of people accessing treatment has increased by 63 percent globally -- just in 24 months. Today, over eight million people in low and middle income countries are on life-saving HIV treatment." OFFICIAL LISTENING MORE OF PEOPLE ATTENDING CONFERENCE WOMAN SEATED MAN SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNAIDS, JAN BEAGLE, SAYING: "Let me turn to the Arab region where again, we have good news to share. Between 2009 and 2011, the number of people accessing HIV treatment in the region nearly doubled." GROUP OF ATTENDEES CLAPPING AT END OF SPEECH OFFICIALS AND SPEAKERS STANDING ON STAGE AT END OF SPEECHES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHAIRPERSON OF NATIONAL AIDS PROGRAM (NAP) OF SAUDI ARABIA, DR. SANA FELEMBAN, SAYING: "The cases we have are no more than 500 or 600 per year, in contrast to the large numbers of cases discovered in other countries." CLOSE ON BANNER PROMOTING EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHAIRPERSON OF NATIONAL AIDS PROGRAM OF SAUDI ARABIA, DR. SANA FELEMBAN, SAYING: "'Zero AIDS is an initiative of the United Nations calling for reaching zero in the number of AIDS cases, zero for the number of new cases, zero AIDS related deaths, also zero stigmatisation and discrimination against people who are diagnosed with AIDS and zero for children who are born with AIDS." PLACARD WITH PHONE NUMBER AND WEB SITE OF NATIONAL AIDS PROGRAM (NAP) OF SAUDI ARABIA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAUDI DEPUTY MINISTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH, DR. ZIAD MEMISH, SAYING: "There is a stigma in the region towards people who are diagnosed with AIDS, people will alienate them and not deal with them or lay them off their jobs. Of course this is the wrong message to be sending people diagnosed with AIDS because it is an illness like any other and they should be treated like any other patient -- receive adequate medical treatment and be treated with dignity." FLAGS OF ARAB STATES TAKING PART IN THE CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 11th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: International Relations,Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8ROSWF56HM28BPS8M7L8R1DTA
  • Story Text: The Saudi capital of Riyadh hosted a conference on HIV/AIDS in the Arab world on Sunday (November 25) with officials from the United Nations and local aid programs taking part in an effort to raise awareness on the disease and help reduce the stigma associated with it.
    The American Foundation for AIDS Research reports that there are nearly 300,000 people living with HIV in the Middle East, and an estimated 37,000 became infected in 2011, while an estimated 23,000 adults and children in the region have died of AIDS.
    But Jan Beagle, the deputy executive director of the United Nation's UNAIDS programme, told conference attendees on Sunday the number of HIV infections around the world has steadily decreased due to successful antiretroviral therapy.
    "In the last 24 months the numbers of people accessing treatment has increased by 63 percent globally -- just in 24 months. Today, over eight million people in low and middle income countries are on life-saving HIV treatment," Beagle told attendees at the Four Seasons Hotel conference hall.
    "Let me turn to the Arab region where again, we have good news to share. Between 2009 and 2011, the number of people accessing HIV treatment in the region nearly doubled," she added.
    A major regional report by UNAIDS from 2010 found that, "with the exception of Djibouti, Somalia and Southern Sudan, HIV transmission in the general population of MENA is limited and amongst the lowest worldwide."
    However, there are no accurate statistics on the number of people with HIV in the Arab world. UNAIDS has described the region as a "black hole in terms of HIV/AIDS data," where knowledge of the disease remains more limited, inaccessible and subject to controversy than in any other region in the world.
    But many local groups have started to talk more openly about the issue and offer support.
    Dr. Sana Felemban is the chairperson of one such group.
    The National Aids Program (NAP) of Saudi Arabia was established in 1994 under the administration of the Infectious Diseases Control, a unit of the Saudi Public Health Ministry. The program provides support to people diagnosed with HIV, including treatment, prevention and care.
    "The cases we have are no more than 500 or 600 per year, in contrast to the large numbers of cases discovered in other countries," Felemban told Reuters TV.
    "'Zero AIDS is an initiative of the United Nations calling for reaching zero in the number of AIDS cases, zero for the number of new cases, zero AIDS related deaths, also zero stigmatisation and discrimination against people who are diagnosed with AIDS and zero for children who are born with AIDS," she added.
    The conference also tackled one of the biggest challenges associated with HIV/AIDs, which is the stigma that comes with the disease.
    "There is a stigma in the region towards people who are diagnosed with AIDS, people will alienate them and not deal with them or lay them off their jobs," said Dr. Ziad Memish, the Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Health.
    "Of course this is the wrong message to be sending people diagnosed with AIDS because it is an illness like any other and they should be treated like any other patient -- receive adequate medical treatment and be treated with dignity," he added.
    Globally, more than 25 million people have died of AIDS since its discovery 30 years ago, according to figures by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which also states over 30 million people are living with the disease, half of them women.
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