President to raise profile of HIV/AIDS campaign

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir will chair the National AIDS Committee. The committee was set up on Monday, and includes representatives of relevant ministries and civil society organisations, as well as religious leaders. The involvement of the president would help the national fight against the disease, by giving it a much higher profile, Muhammad Dirdeiry, spokesman of the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN. He said that Sudan had one of the lowest prevalence rate - one and a half percent - in the region. According to Dirdeiry, the most affected populations were those in refugee camps and in some of the war zones.

The main objective of the committee was to “increase awareness of the disease and educate people about the danger of AIDS”, he said. Sudan was surrounded by high-prevalence countries, so “we cannot afford to be complacent,” he added.