Afghanistan's HIV Rate Up 38 Percent in 2013

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Officials of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Sunday announced that cases of the deadly HIV virus in Afghanistan were up by 38 percent from last year. December 1 is the international day for building awareness of HIV/AIDS and fighting it. Najia Tareq, the Deputy Minister of Public Health, said new and more robust efforts were being taken in Afghanistan every year to address the spread of the disease. "The international day for fighting HIV is the best opportunity to raise people's awareness about HIV/AIDS and renew commitments to those who are fighting against HIV," Tareq said. According to the United Nations, around 5,000 people are thought to live with HIV in Afghanistan, but only 30 percent of them have been tested. "The Ministry of Haj and Islamic Affairs is committed to making the people more aware of HIV through the Mosques, Takya Khana and other religious places," Advisor to the Ministry of Haj and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Sharif Robati said. Meanwhile the United Nation International Children Fund (UNICEF) has said it will continue its efforts to curtail the spread of HIV in Afghanistan, especially amongst mothers, through 2015. "Reducing the transmission of HIV from mothers to children through 2015 is a real target and we believe that we will reach this target," UNICEF Health and Nutrition head in Afghanistan Dr. Nasreen Khan said. "In developed countries, the transmission of HIV from mother to children is entirely prevented by giving voluntary counseling, access to anti-virus medicines, safe child birth and breastfeeding." Ghulam Mujtaba Fayez, the Director of the HIV/AIDS treatment center in Kabul, told TOLOnews that five to seven people visit the center for testing daily. Based to official reports, more than 300,000 Afghans have been tested for HIV/AIDS this year.