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Shortage of anti-retroviral drugs in
Kurdistan region (Iraq)
12.12.2006
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Erbil, Kurdistan
region (Iraq), December 12, -- Health officials in
Iraq's northern Kurdistan region have said they lack
anti-retroviral drugs and the necessary equipment
for testing for the HI virus and that they have been
instructed by health authorities in Baghdad to
deport foreigners who have been found HIV-positive.
"We do not have drugs. If a person tests
HIV-positive, what we do is ask the WHO [World
Health Organisation] to help us by sending drugs,"
said Dr Sayfadin Mohadyin Ahmad, head of the
epidemic diseases section and HIV/AIDS unit in
Kurdistan's Ministry of Health.
Nawzad Abdul-Aziz Salih, an official from
Kurdistan's Ministry of Health, said on Sunday that
there were nine known cases of people living with
HIV/AIDS in the northern cities of Dohuk and Erbil.
All tested positive between 2005 and 2006 and were
now aware of their condition, he said.
Soham Yousef, head of the bacteriology section at
the department of health protection in Erbil, said
that seven other cases of people living with
HIV/AIDS were registered in Erbil two years ago.
Yousef added that the seven cases in Erbil were all
foreigners and they have been deported to their
countries of origin as per the instructions of
central government in Baghdad.
"Now, there are four people in Erbil who are
suspected of being HIV-positive - two women from
Ethiopia, another from Lebanon and the last one is
Turkish," Yousef said.
Dr Wadah Hamed, director of the AIDS Research Centre
(ARC) in Baghdad, said the health ministry's
deportation policy was fair. "Those who are in good
health condition are deported to their country of
origin and those with delicate health conditions
receive adequate treatment in Iraq until they are
well enough to travel to their countries," Hamed
said.
Hamed said that the main problem countrywide in Iraq
with regard to HIV/AIDS was the lack of drugs to
treat it and the lack of the latest kits for testing
for the HI virus.
"We have asked government officials to look for
funds for HIV/AIDS programmes in Iraq and
international organisations to expand their HIV/AIDS
awareness in the country," Hamed said.
Hamed added that the problems of identifying and
treating HIV/AIDS in the Kurdish region were
compounded by the lack of coordination between
health authorities in that region and Baghdad
clinics dealing with people living with HIV/AIDS. As
a result, he said, the number of infected people has
increased and this, together with low public
awareness of the need for HIV testing, has increased
the risk of an epidemic in the coming years.
"There are some new cases of Iraqis being infected
with the HI virus and this is a serious problem. We
should be realistic and not say that only foreigners
in Iraq are infected with it," he said.
Ahmad, the head of the AIDS unit in Kurdistan, also
denied that the people who were found to be
HIV-positive in Kurdistan were all foreigners.
"Some sources say that all registered cases [in
Kurdistan] were foreigners and there were no local
cases in the region, but this is not true. The fact
is that we have not done any survey to determine the
level of HIV infection in the region. There may well
be other cases we do not know of," Ahmed said.
"We should take action before we have an HIV
epidemic. The formation of NGOs dealing with
HIV/AIDS could be helpful."
According to Salih, Kurdistan's Ministry of Heath
press officer, the health ministry was coordinating
with the Ministry of Interior and other ministries
in the region to devise strategies of raising public
awareness of HIV/AIDS. The WHO and the UN children
agency (UNICEF) are also involved in these efforts,
he said.
"We have organised different activities, including
seminars, the publication of posters to coincide
with 1 December [World AIDS Day]. Also, we are
producing a film with the cooperation of UNICEF to
be shown on TV channels to promote public
awareness," Salih said.
Overall, Iraq has had low prevalence rates of
HIV/AIDS, but sources in the Central Health Ministry
believe that an influx of foreign troops and foreign
fighters since the US-led occupation of Iraq began
in 2003 might have increased figures.
At present, about 100 Iraqis infected with the HI
virus have been registered at ARC in Baghdad,
although Hamad said he believed the number of people
living with HIV/AIDS could be higher as not all
people infected with the virus have been registered.
irinnews org
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