TEHRAN — Iran spends 100 million rials (about $3,000) on average per annum on treating each HIV positive patient, said the director of the AIDS department of the Health Ministry, Abbas Sedaqat.

There are more than 9,000 HIV positive patients nationwide, Sedaqat said, adding that 26 medications for HIV which have been approved by the World Health Organization are available in Iran, the IRNA news agency reported.

“Of the 26 drugs, seven are being domestically produced and the rest are being imported,” he highlighted.

He noted that currently HIV is a chronic disease and the patients can live a normal life if they get the appropriate treatment.

Sedaqat further pointed that there are four protocols for HIV treatment in the country. The first is for those at early stages and the other three are for those who have moved into the infection stage.

“Most of the HIV positive patients in Iran receive the second protocol for treatment and all the expenses are covered by the government,” he added.

He stated that the figures announced by the Health Ministry reveals that 30,183 patients are suffering from HIV, of them 7,387 have already lost their lives to the disease.

Sharing the same syringe accounts for 67 percent of HIV transmission. Unprotected intercourses accounts for 18 percent, and transmission from mother to fetus accounts for two percent. The other 13 percent is mostly unknown, he added.

Due to the fact that the disease is not socially accepted [mostly because of the ways it is transmitted] and the patients are usually marginalized some 70,000 patients are undiagnosed and they are a threat for the society and themselves as they can transmit the disease unintentionally.

Unfortunately HIV transmission through high risk sexual behaviors has outrun other ways for the past years in Iran.

HIV refers to the virus itself, and “AIDS” refers to the late stage of HIV infection, when an HIV-infected person’s immune system is severely damaged and has difficulty fighting diseases and certain cancers.

Today, most people who are HIV-positive do not progress to AIDS. That’s because if the patients take the medication consistently, they can keep the level of HIV in their body low. This will help keep the body strong and healthy and reduce the likelihood that it will ever progress to AIDS. It will also help lower the risk of transmitting HIV to others.


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