Manama: Qatar nationals and residents have been urged to stop stigmatizing people living with human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids) in order to curb its spread within the community.
“People living with HIV/Aids are still suffering discrimination and persecution as many people fear to associate with them both at home and at work," Dr Abdul Lateef Al Khal, head of Infectious Diseases Division and Communicable Diseases Clinic at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), said. "Some had actually been dismissed from schools because they were HIV positive," he told students at a seminar in Doha.
The one-day seminar was jointly organised by the Supreme Council of Health and Hamad Medical Corporation as part of the World Aids Day being marked worldwide under the theme: “Universal Access and Human Rights”.
Speakers at the event urged middle and high school students to always seek the right information about the virus and its effects on them and the community in general. They were also asked to guard themselves against HIV by acquiring the right skills and education regarding its spread within the community, Qatari daily Gulf Times reported on Wednesday.
"If we want to truly win the war against HIV/Aids, people should stop discriminating against those living with the virus. This will not only help them psychologically but also help curtail the spread of the virus within the community as many people will be willing to go for testing if they are sure they will not be stigmatised,” Al Khal said.
There are now around 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide and a total of 25 million deaths have occurred out of about 60 million people infected with the fatal virus.
“According to the WHO figures released in 2008, an estimated 2.7 million people were newly infected with the virus and two million died of Aids the same year. Most cases of HIV infections, around 67 per cent, happen in sub-Sahara Africa and 17 per cent in Asia with 7,000 new cases being diagnosed daily,” he said.
The official said that people having the virus can still lead almost normal lives and can use more than 20 anti-retroviral medications to maintain their immune system.
However, he said they will take the medication for life while preventing any opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, hepatitis or any sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Qatar doctors urge people to accept HIV patients
Qatar nationals and residents have been urged to stop stigmatizing people living with HIV/Aids