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Ammon News - by Khetam Malkawi/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — Civil society organisations can play a big role in spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS and educate risk groups about this pandemic, regional experts said on Tuesday.

Bassam Hijjawi, head of the Ministry of Health’s national AIDS programme, said the ministry cannot work on reducing the stigma against people diagnosed with AIDS without the cooperation of civil society organisations (CSOs).

He explained that these organisations are main partners and that the ministry is currently conducting random HIV tests in cooperation with CSOs working in the field.

According to Hijjawi, Jordan is open to travellers and refugees from different countries of the world, and conducting regular studies on the prevalence of the diseases is a “must”.

“Jordan is considered one of the countries with a low HIV/AIDS prevalence, but we have to keep monitoring the disease and conduct tests for risk groups,” Hijjawi said at the opening of a regional consultation workshop on networking with the CSOs on HIV/AIDS-related initiatives.

According to the ministry’s figures, 986 cases have been registered in Jordan since the discovery of the first case in 1986. Of the total number, 275 were Jordanians and the rest foreigners who came to the Kingdom for work or treatment.

Of the 275 Jordanian cases, 32 were females.

Meanwhile, Elie Araj, president of the Regional Arab Network Against AIDS, which organised the meeting, said the Middle East and North Africa region is the second in the world in terms of HIV/AIDS prevalence, noting that governments and CSOs should work closely to reduce this rate.

Although he did not provide figures on the number of cases in the region, Araj noted that there is a shortage in medication and care provided to AIDS patients.