FHS Holds Training Workshop on HIV/AIDS Programs

Professor DeJong

The under-reporting of HIV/AIDS cases in the MENA region has been preventing researchers and health workers from properly monitoring and evaluating the exact prevalence of the disease, said participants at a special five-day workshop held at AUB September 17-21.

"The incentive to seek testing for HIV/AIDS is very low, which in turn results in a very low number of reported cases. This in turn means that there are very little reliable available data to study the prevalence and spread of the virus," said Associate Professor Jocelyn DeJong, who gave a presentation on HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) focusing on young people. Currently, based on available reported cases, the adult prevalence of HIV/AIDS is considered to be a low 0.1 percent in the MENA region.

Organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences at AUB and funded by the Ford Foundation's Cairo office, the workshop is meant to train those engaged in HIV/AIDS programs for young people on how to ensure the effectiveness of the programs.

NGO representatives, educators, and members of public institutions from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine participated in the workshop, in which AUB researchers and healthcare professionals, including Mayada Kanj, Rima Afifi Soweid, Kassem Kasak, and Danielle Khoury, trained participants on how to set goals and design interventions that will have a real impact.

The MENA region suffers from a very high level of stigma with respect to HIV/AIDS, lack or limited access to retroviral treatment, testing, and counseling. All those issues act as deterrents against people accepting to be screened for HIV.

In parallel, young people's vulnerability to catching HIV is increasing, noted DeJong. For one, living in conflict and post-conflict zones causes many people to become displaced away from their families and friends, which often results in greater exposure to HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the rising average age of first marriage for both males and females means that the average number of sexual partners per young person is increasing as well. In contrast, early marriage also exists, hence young women are more likely to enter marriage without the proper sexual education and information they need to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. Coupled with those factors is evidence of the increase in risky behavior, namely very low use of condoms and the increase in intravenous drug use and concomitant needle-sharing.