Please find below the second newsletter from RANAA - the Regional / Arab
Network against AIDS.
The forth Regional Resource Group (RRG) meeting was held on 21-22 of
November in Aïn Soukhna, Egypt. The main objectives of the meeting were to
bring additional strategic thinking to the work of Civil Society
Organizations (CSOs) in the MENA region and to identify the needs for CSOs
action in the region.
Following the 4th RRG meeting, the Executive Board of RANAA held a meeting
on 23rd of November 2008. The participants mainly discussed the
membership, the registration of the Network, and amended the Constitution.
The second newsletter includes articles and reports on HIV/AIDS issues,
written by colleagues from the MENA region.
The next RANAA newsletter awaits your ideas and propositions. Please send
us your articles to the following address:
contact@ranaa.net
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Symptoms or not, everyone should be tested for HIV
Jad (not his real name) thinks he became infected with HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS, two years ago, during a one-night stand with someone he met
in a nightclub.
"We were very drunk and I'm not sure I used a condom," he explained. After
hearing about a hospital that provided confidential HIV testing some time
later, Jad decided to go. "I wasn't worried that I was infected, but I
felt I should have the check anyway, just to be sure."
When his tests came back positive, Jad was surprised.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
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Global Challenges: Lebanon Holds HIV/AIDS Workshop for Religious Leaders
Lebanon on Monday opened a three-day conference for religious leaders in
the country to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS issues, the Daily Star
reports. More than 60 participants attended the workshop, which was
organized by the United Nations Development Program and the Public Health
Ministry. In a statement read by UNDP Country Director Seifeldin Abbaro,
UNDP Resident Representative Martha Ruedas said, "Until now, the Arab
world had not addressed the issue of HIV/AIDS with enough energy because
people were too scared or not sufficiently informed to discuss the
disease." She added that the situation is beginning to change, according
to the Daily Star.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/
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Egypt works at removing the stigma Associated With AIDS
The saying "there are two sides to every story" best explains the
situation of HIV/AIDS in Egypt.
"Egypt is one of the lucky countries which has only a few thousand HIV
patients, however, because it has this small number, it is particularly
challenging for those people to live in the country," said Jeffrey
O'Malley, director of the HIV/AIDS Group at the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP).
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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Private sector role urged in Aids awareness
A UNITED Nations Development Programme expert on HIV/Aids has urged the
private sector in the Arab region to take action against the virus and the
disease as failure may cost a lot in the long run.
Speaking during a presentation titled: 'Partnering with key Leaders for
Change' at a Qatar Petroleum HIV/Aids workshop, UNDP Regional HIV/Aids
programme co-ordinator for Arab states Dr Khadija Moalla said it is high
time for the private sector to get 'smart' and make interventions on HIV
in order to halt the spread of the disease among young adults as the
health impact of HIV/Aids is being felt most in their age group.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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Workshop Highlights Need for Positive Perception about HIV
Regulations and cultural perceptions in Arab countries should be modified
in order to acknowledge HIV positive individuals as citizens with rights
to medical treatment and social acceptance, according to experts at an
ongoing workshop on HIV/AIDS in the capital. The three-day workshop ends
today.
Dr Ihab Al Kharrat, Senior Programme Advisor for HIV/Aids regional
programme in the Arab States, said: "In many Arab countries, HIV positive
individuals are considered sinners and thus not worthy of compassion; we
need to change this perception by educating all sectors of society."
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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ILO Calls On Middle Eastern Countries To End Discrimination Against People
Living With HIV/AIDS, Proposes Code Of Practice
The International Labour Organization recently called on some Middle
Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates, to end
discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, The National reports.
ILO in partnership with UNAIDS and the International Organization for
Migration also proposed a code of practice for governments in dealing with
migrant workers who become HIV-positive.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.
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Qatar has low rate of Aids cases
Despite an alarming increase of cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the Arab world, Qatar has
still a relatively low incidence with 235 cases, according to a report
released yesterday by the Qatar National Committee for AIDS Prevention.
Dr Abddul Latif Al Khal, media spokesman of Qatar National Committee for
AIDS Prevention, has issued this HIV cases update in Qatar as the
international community celebrates today the World AIDS Day.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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The Price of Silence: HIV/AIDS control in Sudan
As the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed the comprehensive peace agreement on January
9, 2005 a new era began in the history of the largest country in Africa,
which has been troubled by more than two decades of civil war . Many
people are hoping that the new post-conflict administration works hard to
find peaceful resolution to the crisis of Darfur.
Even though Sudan's long civil war with its devastating consequences
represented the country's national emergency crisis, yet the potential of
the HIV/AIDS prevalence to increase is another monster in the absence of
sufficient political will to deal with the epidemic.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.sudantribune.com/
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FHS holds training workshop on monitoring and evaluating HIV/AIDS programs
in MENA region
Under-reporting of HIV/AIDS cases in the MENA region has been preventing
researchers and health workers from properly monitoring and evaluating the
exact prevalence of the disease, said participants at a special workshop
on HIV/AIDS held at AUB September 17-21.
"The incentive to seek testing for HIV/AIDS is very low, which in turn
results in a very low number of reported cases. This in turn means that
there are very little reliable data to study the prevalence and spread of
the virus," said Jocelyn DeJong, an associate professor who gave a
presentation on HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA),
focusing on young people, on the first day of the five-day workshop.
Currently, based on available reported cases, adult prevalence of HIV/AIDS
is considered to be a low 0.1 percent in the MENA region.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/
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في إطار اهتمامات تجمّع المؤسّسات الأهليّة في صيدا - جنوب لبنان - عموماً، وفي مجال عمل برنامج مكافحة السيدا في التجمّع خصوصاً ، أتت فكرة القيام بحملة اعلامية توعوية واسعة النطاق بعنوان "من حقك تعرف عنو" طالت منطقة صيدا باحيائها و اختتمت بمعرض صحّي لمدة يوم واحد يتوجّه لطلاّب المدارس الثانويّة والجامعات وعامّة الناس ، لرفع مستوى الوعي حول الأمراض المنقولة جنسياً والسيدا، و اثارة تساؤلات تسمح بتعديل بعض السلوكيات و المعتقدات الخاطئة. تخلل المعرض ندوات ومناقشة لأفلام و تقديم خدمة الفحص الطوعي .
و قد تم توعية 362 طالب من طلاب المرحلة الثانوية و المهنيات من خلال محاضرات توعية حول السيدا و الأمراض المنقولة جنسياّ ، و تم تمرير مسابقة طالت 931 طالب ثانوي و مهني (مرفق نتائج المسابقة) تألفت من 6 أسئلة تتعلق بمرض السيدا (طرق الانتقال و الوقاية) قبل يوم المعرض.
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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How did I finally have a permanent soul mate at the age of 36?
After real hard search see how I got" lucky":
Dubai, Thursday 18 September 2008, 10:30 AM
I was in my office having a very busy day at the office-as usual-, when I
called the hospital after a routine blood test was done for the university
as an admission requirement for the MBA I was planning to do.
To read the entire article, please follow this URL link:
http://www.ranaa.net/index.pl/
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