Middle-Eastern AIDS efforts are starting to tackle taboos

Several grand imams, in their flowing robes and swirling turbans, began by voicing some equally colourful opinions-that AIDS is a punishment from God, that condoms promote adultery, and that practices which spread the disease have been introduced by enemies of the Arab world. Official statistics lar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2006-03, Vol.367 (9515), p.975-976
Main Author: El Feki, Shereen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - epidemiology
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - transmission
Adult
Africa, Northern - epidemiology
AIDS
Attitude to Health
Condoms
Female
Fund raising
Government
Health Promotion - methods
Health Promotion - trends
HIV
Homosexuality, Male
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
International standards
Male
Manpower
Middle East - epidemiology
Migrant workers
Population
Public health
Religion
Sexually transmitted diseases
STD
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
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Summary:Several grand imams, in their flowing robes and swirling turbans, began by voicing some equally colourful opinions-that AIDS is a punishment from God, that condoms promote adultery, and that practices which spread the disease have been introduced by enemies of the Arab world. Official statistics largely reflect AIDS cases which turn up in hospitals, or migrant workers tested for their visa applications-just "the tip of the iceberg", says Khadija Moalla, coordinator of UNDP's Arab regional HIV/AIDS programme. The "respectable" face of AIDS in North Africa and the Middle East-the one people are just about willing to discuss-are men who have contracted HIV through blood transfusions, or women who are infected by their husbands, and their children; few are willing to talk openly about commercial sex workers or men who have sex with men-activities which are illegal in much of the region.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68409-2