Iran's AIDS-Prevention Program Among World's Most Progressive

[oblivious]

Published on Friday, April 14, 2006 by Knight Ridder
Iran's AIDS-Prevention Program Among World's Most Progressive

...Iran's fight against the spread of HIV hinges on a delicate give-and-take between activists who talk frankly about sex and drugs and the ruling ayatollahs, who fiercely protect the Islamic Republic's puritan image. The combination has made Iran the Middle East leader in preventing HIV and AIDS. The country's program, which melds deep-rooted religious values with cutting-edge research, is being exported to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Pakistan and other Muslim nations.

...it gives clean syringes and methadone treatment to heroin addicts. Health workers pass out condoms to prostitutes. Government clinics in every region offer free HIV testing, counseling and treatment. A state-backed magazine just began a monthly column that profiles HIV-positive Iranians, and last year the postal service unveiled a stamp emblazoned with a red ribbon for AIDS awareness. This year the government will devote an estimated $30 million to the program.

..."Iran now has one of the best prison programs for HIV in not just the region, but in the world," said Dr. Hamid Setayesh, the coordinator for the U.N. AIDS office in Tehran. "They're passing out condoms and syringes in prisons. This is unbelievable. In the whole world, there aren't more than six or seven countries doing that."

...A year ago, Setayesh sent questionnaires to the most influential Shiite Muslim clerics to elicit their views on condom use, government's role in AIDS prevention and how society should deal with HIV-infected Iranians. He received 17 handwritten responses, nearly all in favor of the government's efforts. ... "You should not discriminate against these people," one mullah wrote. "You have no excuse not to use condoms," another responded. "You should pay for this from the public funds of the government," an ayatollah ordered.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0414-03.htm
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/14336567.htm

In Iran, Searching for Common Ground
By David Ignatius
Wednesday, September 6, 2006; Page A15

...The hero of the HIV-AIDS story is Dr. Arash Alaei. From his headquarters in an old tuberculosis hospital in the hills of North Tehran, he supervises a nationwide prevention and treatment program for AIDS and drug addiction that the World Health Organization in 2004 described as a "best-practice model" for the Middle East. With his guidance, the Iranians instituted a nationwide needle-exchange program; they distribute condoms free at health clinics around the country, and they have methadone treatment centers in every province. Indeed, their public health program in this area looks more enlightened than what we have in America.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090501134.html
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/commentary/commentaryother.asp?file=septembercommentary162006.xml