HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and Israel

By Inon Schenker, MPH
The Jerusalem AIDS Project

While the AIDS epidemic is still rapidly spreading in most parts of the world at a global world rate of 8,500 new HIV infections per day, Israel and the Middle East are enjoying currently a low incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. There are several factors that are related to the lower spread of the disease in this part of the world: circumcision, conservative views and underreporting.

Various studies have demonstrated the correlation between lower incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and circumcision in males. Most males in our region are circumcised due to religious beliefs in both Islam and Judaism. In addition, the influences of both tradition and religious are still very strong in the Middle East, and social taboos, especially relating to sexuality and drug abuse, are dominant, along with great respect for the value of family. The current epidemiological status of HIV/AIDS in this region is based on self-reporting of the Ministries of Health of the various countries. We know that in more than a few cases these reports are not providing complete information on the spread of HIV, mostly due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure.

With the advent of peace in the Middle East new risks are to be considered, mainly due to the opening of borders, influx of tourism, populations in transition and the increase in the standard of living, which may bring with it the so-called Western behavioural patterns.

In responding to the challenge of AIDS prevention in the Middle East, on a regional level, action was taken by the initiative of the Jerusalem AIDS Project, an Israeli NGO, working nationally and internationally in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Under this initiative, three training workshops for Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian health professionals were conducted in Jerusalem. The 4-day workshops (July '95, November '95 and December '96)hosted about 50 participants per workshop and were conducted with the support of MASHAV, the Governments of the UK, Canada and also WHO, UNDP, UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority. As a result of this initiative, an ongoing network of concerned health professionals, devoted to AIDS prevention, is currently functioning. Our hope is to see this cooperation in the health field growing in the Middle East.

In Israel itself, a new teenagers' group was recently established with the professional guidance and support of the Jerusalem AIDS Project. The aim of HALEV (the heart) group is to establish a peer AIDS education project, the first of its kind in Jerusalem, in which high school students take AIDS messages into the community at large and to youth in particular.

These initiatives will hopefully help reduce the current stage of world infection with 28 million infected, 7 million ill with AIDS and a growing number of children and youngsters (especially adolescent girls) being infected worldwide, at least in this part of the world that has currently 192,000 infected. The rates for Israel are: 501 ill with AIDS and an estimated 3-5,000 infected.