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Saudi Arabia

Surveillance for HIV has been underway in Saudi Arabia since 1984. Indications for HIV testing include clinical suspicion, screening of contacts of HIV-infected patients, and routine screening of blood and organ donors, prisoners, intravenous drug users, patients with other sexually transmitted infections, and expatriates pre-employment. To read the entire report, please download the attached document. ( Read more... )

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is among the countries of Central and South Asia that despite the reported low HIV prevalence faces serious threat of HIV/AIDS epidemic mainly due to the high incidence of injecting drug use (IDU) that partially intersects with sex work (SW).The absence of a surveillance system on HIV/AIDS and STIs, and therefore, current reliance on sporadic and unsystematic data available for some of the high-risk groups makes it difficult to: (a) determine the magnitude of the actual epidemic, (b) understand the dynamics of transmission, and (c) assess the potential for its further diffusion.  To date, the officially reported number of HIV cases is believed to be 71, including 18 women and 53 men, detected only at three locations in the country - the Kabul City Central Blood Bank, Kabul and Herat VCCT centers - cumulatively between 1989-2007 among 125,800 persons. UNAIDS and WHO estimate a much higher prevalence of HIV-positive cases in Afghanistan ranging from at least 1,000 to 2,000. It is known only that 24 out of the 71 HIV-positive individuals were injecting drug users (IDUs); no information is available about the remaining cases. This fact suggests a potentially higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS among other segments of the population, contrary to a common belief that IDUs are the only drivers of HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan. It also calls for an immediate action in establishing services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). ( Read more... )