JEDDAH: More people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are dying from AIDS than 10 years ago, bucking the global trend in which the fatality rate is falling as more get treatment.
AIDS claimed a million lives globally last year, although the scales have tipped in the fight against the disease, with more than half of people infected with HIV now getting treatment, a UN report said Thursday.
Global AIDS deaths are now close to half of what they were in 2005, according to the UNAIDS agency.
But in MENA and eastern Europe and central Asia, AIDS-related deaths have risen by 48 percent and 38 percent respectively, it said, mostly due to HIV-positive patients not getting access to treatment.
Exceptions within these regions show that “when concerted efforts are made, results happen,” the report said, noting that in Algeria the rate of HIV treatment access increased to 76 percent in 2016 from 24 percent in 2010, and in Morocco to 48 percent in 2016 from 16 percent in 2010.
Community-based testing and treatment programs are reaching out to key populations in an increasing number of countries in the MENA region, according to the report.
Just over half of people living with HIV in the region know their HIV status. The report suggested that linkages between HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy initiation require strengthening, and that treatment adherence is a challenge.
In the MENA region, the annual number of adults and children dying due to AIDS-related illnesses increased from an estimated 3,600 in 2000 to more than 11,000 in 2016.
AIDS-related deaths more than doubled between 2000 and 2010 in Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen, which can be explained by increasing incidence in some countries and limited access to treatment in others. In countries where treatment coverage has expanded, AIDS-related deaths have decreased significantly since 2010 — for example, by 37 percent in Algeria and 28 percent in Djibouti.
According to the report, the annual number of new HIV infections in the Middle East and North Africa has remained stable since 2010, with an estimated 18,000 people newly infected in 2016.
Trends among countries in the region, however, have varied widely.
Since 2010, there have been substantial decreases in annual new infections in Morocco (42 percent), Iran (14 percent) and Somalia (12 percent).
In contrast, new infections rose by 76 percent in Egypt and 44 percent in Yemen.
Although relatively large increases in new infections occurred between 2010 and 2015 for Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar, the absolute number of new infections remains very small, in part because estimates from these countries are for citizens and exclude temporary migrant workers and other foreign nationals.
The report said that Iran, Sudan and Somalia accounted for about 65 percent of new HIV infections in the region in 2016. An additional 23 percent of new infections occurred in Djibouti, Egypt and Morocco, it added.
There was little change in the number of new HIV infections among children (aged 0–14) in the region between 2010 and 2016.
Most of the newly infected children were in Somalia and Sudan, which together accounted for around two thirds of the total.
The biggest reduction in new infections in children between 2010 and 2016 was in Djibouti, where the integration of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission into maternal and child health programs has been expanded.
— With input from AFP
AIDS deaths in MENA region on the rise, UN report finds
AIDS deaths in MENA region on the rise, UN report finds
Iran, US to hold third round of nuclear talks on Thursday
- Diplomatic solution with Washington is still within reach, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says
TEHRAN: Iran and the US will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday, amid growing concerns about the risk of military conflict between the longtime adversaries.
The US has built up its military presence in the Middle East, with President Donald Trump warning on Thursday that “really bad things will happen” if no deal is reached to solve a longstanding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Pleased to confirm US-Iran negotiations are now set for Geneva this Thursday, with a positive push to go the extra mile toward finalizing the deal,” said Oman’s foreign minister, who acts as a mediator in indirect talks between Washington and Tehran.
FASTFACT
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian voiced cautious optimism in a post on X, saying recent negotiations had ‘yielded encouraging signals’ while pointing to Tehran’s readiness for ‘any potential scenario.’
Reuters reported on Sunday that Iran was offering fresh concessions on its nuclear program in order to reach a deal, as long as it includes the lifting of economic sanctions and recognizes Tehran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment.”
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian voiced cautious optimism on Sunday in a post on X, saying recent negotiations had “yielded encouraging signals” while pointing to Tehran’s readiness for “any potential scenario.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who leads nuclear negotiations on the US side, said on Saturday that the US president was curious as to why Iran has not yet “capitulated” and agreed to curb its
nuclear program.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated,’ because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they have not ... I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated,’ but why haven’t they capitulated?” Witkoff said during an interview with Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump,” hosted by the president’s daughter-in-law.
“Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do’? And yet it’s sort of hard to get them to that place.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reacted in a post on X, saying: “Curious to know why we do not capitulate? Because we are Iranian.”
He also said in an interview with CBS that a diplomatic solution with the US was still within reach.
Indirect talks last year did not bring any agreement, primarily due to friction over a US demand that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, which Washington views as a pathway to a nuclear bomb. Iran has denied seeking such weapons.
The US joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites in June, effectively curtailing Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Trump saying its key nuclear sites were “obliterated.”
But Iran is still believed to possess stockpiles enriched previously, which Washington wants it to relinquish.
“They’ve been enriching well beyond the number that you need for civil nuclear. It’s up to 60 percent (fissile purity),” Witkoff said.
“They’re probably a week away from having industrial, industrial-grade bomb-making material, and that’s really dangerous.”
Fresh concessions being considered by Iran include sending half of its highly enriched uranium abroad while diluting the rest.
Washington has also sought to expand the talks beyond the nuclear issue to cover Iran’s missile program and its support for regional armed groups. Iran has publicly rejected this, although sources have said that, unlike the missiles, support for armed groups may not be a red line for Tehran.
Another topic of friction is the scope and mechanism of lifting sanctions on Iran.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Iran and the US still have differing views.
Witkoff also said he has met at Trump’s direction with Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, son of the shah ousted in Iran’s 1979 revolution.
