TEHRAN, Dec 30 (AFP) - Doctors in Iran have received a government order not to turn away patients infected with HIV or AIDS as part of a new effort to control the spread of the disease, medical workers said Monday.
According to the health ministry directive, doctors consulted by people infected with the AIDS virus or suffering from AIDS-related illnesses have been ordered to catalogue the cases and provide immediate treatment, or else face an undisclosed punishment.
"Any refusal to accept those infected with the AIDS virus is against the law and because of the social problem which it creates, any violation will be followed up," the state news agency IRNA quoted the directive as saying.
A medical doctor at the forefront of the fight against AIDS in Iran told AFP that Sunday's order, signed by Deputy Health Minister Mohammad Ismael Akbari, was a "positive step".
The directive, addressed to all private and state medical facilities, also called for "all-out support of the nation and the country's health centres for AIDS patients".
"There is a long way to go but this is a positive step," said the doctor, who asked not to be named. "Before we can even fight the disease, the stigmas need to be removed and doctors need to get on board."
According to the latest official statistics, an estimated 4,237 people are suffering from full-blown AIDS while nearly 21,000 people are HIV positive.
An estimated 65 percent contracted the disease through infected needles used to inject drugs, particularly in the Islamic republic's prisons which are packed with drugs-related offenders.
Some three million people are believed to be drug users in Iran, of whom some 300,000 inject morphine or heroin.
However medical sources said the real figure could be far higher, given that blood tests are generally only carried out among prisoners, people preparing to marry and blood donors.
Drug users are also reluctant to seek treatment, given that merely taking drugs is a criminal offence.
In addition, because of the social taboos related to sexual relations in Iran -- where sex outside marriage and homosexuality are strictly prohibited and subject to harsh punishments -- those who have caught AIDS through sexual transmission are also reluctant to seek medical help.
Treatment is also complicated by a lack of access to anti-retroviral drug therapy.
Authorities are debating how to cut the spread of AIDS among drug users, with clean needle exchange programmes and methadone treatment under consideration, medical sources said.
021230
AF0212D4
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2002 - All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission.. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2002 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
