121 new HIV/Aids cases confirmed inYemeni cities of Sanaa, Taiz and Aden

Sanaa: Yemen's National Aids Programme (NAP) has declared 121 new HIV/Aids cases, confirming 1,714 cases in the country while officials estimate the unreported cases could be about 12,000.

Up to January 2005, NAP confirmed the existence of 1,593 HIV cases including 355 Aids cases. To July 2005, it recorded 48 Aids cases and 73 HIV cases notably from the three main cities of Sanaa, Taiz and Aden, which have the largest populations. About 100 of the 121 new cases are Yemenis including women and children, according to NAP.

However, the role being played by NAP is confined to raising awareness and psychological counselling.

It has never given medical treatment or antiretroviral therapy to anyone living with HIV/Aids since it was established in 1987 by the government and mainly financed by donors, international organisations and UN agencies.

"In addition to awareness-raising tasks, we provide those living with HIV/Aids, psychological counselling by holding periodical sessions during which the patients receive psychological support to boost their morale," Dr Fouzia Gharamah, NAP executive manager told Gulf News.

But, she said, "We will provide free medical treatments for 150 cases from the beginning of next year 2006."

The writer is a journalist based in Sanaa