Morocco carries on awareness campaign on AIDS
Morocco, Health, 9/20/2004

The Direction of Epidemiology of the Moroccan health Ministry said, here Friday, the awareness campaign on AIDS is still ongoing.

The Direction said the first phase of the campaign, launched on June 2, targeted mainly young people aged from 15 to 29 and was dedicated to sensitising people about the existence of AIDS in Morocco.

The second phase, to last three months, aims at improving people's knowledge about ways of transmission and evoking means to prevent from AIDS. The third phase of the campaign will start on mid-November and will deal with providing care.

The ultimate phase of the campaign will focus on fighting discrimination to reduce the social and psychological impact of the disease on people affected by HIV/AIDS.

Since the first AIDS case was reported in Morocco in 1986, a total of 1,389 cases were confirmed until May 31, the Health Ministry had revealed, noting that free care is provided to people affected by the disease.

The prevailing way of AIDS transmission, according to the ministry, is through heterosexual intercourse with a rate of 74 percent, homosexual relations (6 percent), bisexual relations (4 percent) drugs (3 percent) and mother-to-child transmission. Meanwhile, causes of infection in 7 percent of cases are unknown.

According to the same source, the national AIDS control program, which is using techniques defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), estimated that between 13,000 and 16,000 the number of persons carrying the AIDS virus until the end of 2003.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco to launch anti-AIDS media campaign   (5/7/2004)
  Over 1,300 AIDS cases reported in morocco by end 2003   (4/26/2004)
  Fighting poverty and illiteracy will limit Aids disease, Minister   (3/25/2004)

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