Damascus, (SANA) – The Ministry of Health continues to work with ministries and local and international relevant authorities to implement new methods for protection against AIDS and diagnosing it early to maintain low rates of infection and keep Syria among the countries with the low AIDS spread rate.

According to the World Health Organization, the low AIDS spread rate is 7 cases per 100,000 people, and Syria's rate is less than 4 cases per 100,000.

Director of the National Program for Combating AIDS Dr. Bassam Shammas said that efforts focus on the groups that are most susceptible to contracting the virus, mainly youths under 25 years, with priority to improving, monitoring and evaluating programs, in addition to monitoring people entering Syria who constitute approximately 40% of overall diagnosed cases up to the end of 2009.

Dr. Shammas stressed the importance of making a distinction between the carries of the HIV virus, who carry the virus without showing symptoms, and those suffering from AIDS with all its symptoms and signs, noting that overall HIV and AIDS cases in Syria up until the end of 2009 amounted to 627 cases, 344 of them Syrians and 283 non-Syrians.

The overall number of diagnosed HIV cases from 1987 to 2009 amount to 370, with 108 Syrian patients and 262 non-Syrian patients. AIDS cases amounted to 257 cases, with 236 Syrian patients and 21 non-Syrian patients. 159 of the AIDS patients passed away.

The data of the National Program for Combating AIDS shows that male patients make up 78% of patients in Syria while female patients make up 22%. In 60% of the cases, the virus was transmitted by extra-marital sex, compared to 24% transmitted between married people and 10% resulting from blood transfusion.

There have been no cases of transmitting the virus through blood transfusion during the last 10 years. 9% of cases were caused by male homosexual relations, while 4% were caused by drug use via the sharing of needles. Finally, in 3% of the cases the virus was transmitted from the mother to the fetus.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen