Health Ministry Official: 60 Percent of AIDS Patients Are Unaware of Their Condition

The head of the AIDS department at the Ministry of Health announced that the number of individuals infected with the virus as of December last year was 36,571, which represents 40 percent of those infected, while 60 percent are "still unaware of their condition." According to ISNA news agency, Parvin Afzarkazerooni, the head of the AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases control department, stated on Saturday, April 27, that 50 percent of AIDS patients are aged between 21 and 35. Ms. Afzarkazerooni noted that there is a possibility that these individuals may have contracted the virus at much younger ages. Based on the Ministry of Health's estimated statistics, between 66,000 and 100,000 people in Iran are infected with AIDS. Health officials also stated, without specifying a timeline, that approximately 10,000 AIDS patients have died in recent years. The Ministry of Health has repeatedly announced that the incidence of AIDS among women and transmission of the virus through sexual relations has increased in recent years. Meanwhile, Ms. Afzarkazerooni mentioned that most cases of AIDS among those under 15 years old occur due to mother-to-child transmission. She had promised in November of last year that starting from 2018, all pregnant Iranian women would be tested for the AIDS virus. The head of the AIDS department also mentioned that one of the ministry's programs is to educate teenagers and young adults and to establish "youth health clubs," stating that "one of the main partners" for this initiative is "clergy and religious leaders." These statements come at a time when discussing AIDS and announcing statistics about those infected has not been common in recent years. In 2008, Arash and Kamyar Alaei, two brothers who founded a new program for triangular clinics to prevent AIDS and HIV in Iran, were arrested and imprisoned for about five years.