20 HIV cases found since beginning of year in Jordan

Twenty HIV/AIDS cases have been discovered in the Kingdom since the beginning of the year, a Ministry of Health representative said late Saturday. Abdullah Barmawi, deputy director of the ministry’s HIV/AIDS programme, said two of the patients are Jordanians and 18 foreigners. He noted that although the number of cases among Jordanians is low, “we need to create awareness among the public on how to avoid contracting the disease.” “The ministry cannot stand alone in combating HIV, and we need partners to help us with our awareness campaigns,” Barmawi stressed, adding that these campaigns should also focus on ending and reducing social stigma and discrimination against patients with HIV. The health official was speaking at an awards ceremony to honour sponsors and participants in the second humanitarian campaign organised last December by the MENA Friends of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Speaking at the ceremony, Samih Darwazeh, chairman of the MENA group, noted that in its second year, the campaign reached 15,000 people across the Kingdom to educate them on health-related issues. According to a statement received by The Jordan Times, 10 civil society institutions, 10 public entities, 50 private agencies, seven sports groups, 35 artists, six medical institutes, and several schools and universities took part in the campaign. Founded in Amman in 2009, MENA Friends supports and promotes the role of the Global Fund in the Middle East region. Established in 2002, the Global Fund is the world’s largest funder of programmes to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.