AIDS awareness to include schools

As part of the country's national curriculum, Iranian youth may soon be receiving AIDS awareness education in school. Although no starting date has been announced, the Ministry of Education has accepted the move as part of the country's comprehensive effort towards halting the spread of the disease. "AIDS awareness in the country is growing," Dr Mitra Mo'tamedi, the newly appointed head of the National Committee to Fight AIDS, told IRIN on Tuesday from the Iranian capital, Tehran. "Introducing it into the schools is yet another positive step by the government in tackling the issue." While AIDS awareness within the education system was first introduced in 1999 in high schools and universities, it was not part of the curriculum - something that may soon change. "The Ministry of Education has accepted to introduce an education curriculum for students, but has yet to prepare a programme," Mo'tamedi said. The move is being hailed as a major achievement in this staunchly religious society in which open discussion of sexual matters remains limited. Despite Iran having a low HIV prevalence, such a cultural constraint makes this country of 68 million particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. Over the past 15 years, there have been 3,680 reported cases of HIV in Iran. Of them, 403 have developed AIDS, and of these 364 have died. Although this is a low figure compared to other countries, Mo'tamedi estimates the real number of HIV cases at 20,000, with some 2,000 probable AIDS cases. Commenting on awareness inside the country, she said efforts in Iran were quite progressive compared to other Muslim countries, but remained "weak and incomplete" nonetheless. Regarding opposition to the campaign, she conceded there had been strong opposition in the past, but that the response from government agencies had proved much better following the recent approval of a national strategic plan for the country. "We hope with close collaboration between the two ministries of education and the ministry of health and medical education, we will be able to plan a national educational programme and implement those programmes to different target groups - not just students, but all youth and risk populations, such as intravenous drug users, prisoners, heath-care workers, etc," she explained. The first case of HIV was diagnosed in 1987 when a six-year-old haemophiliac boy reportedly received contaminated blood imported into the country. This led to the establishment of the Iranian National Committee to Fight AIDS. Meanwhile, on Monday, the United Nations announced that despite a greater worldwide awareness of HIV/AIDS, especially in developing countries, individual actions remain risky. According to a new UN report entitled "HIV/AIDS: Awareness and Behaviour", examining HIV/AIDS-related awareness and behaviour in 39 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, HIV/AIDS campaigns have raised awareness in many of these, especially in urban areas, but do not appear to have influenced individual risk perception and behaviour. Even in countries where HIV prevalence is high, most people feel that their risk of contracting AIDS is low. The report added that among young people, schools had had a limited impact on raising awareness and conveying a basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS. And while considerable efforts had been devoted to promoting the use of condoms as part of HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns, condom use among couples remained low in affected countries.