Al-Shomer: Kuwait a leading country in fighting AIDS

Kuwait is one of the top countries in the world in taking measures aimed at the fight against AIDS, since the deadly virus was discovered in the 1980s, an official said on Saturday. There are currently about 34 million people suffering from the disease around the world, according to 2012 World Health Organization records, said Chairperson of the AIDS Data and Statistics Office at the Ministry of Health, Dr Hind Al-Shomer, on the occasion of World AIDS Day on December 1. The ministry has set up modern facilities aimed at diagnosing the virus in its early stages, and offers adequate medication to those affected in accordance with the latest international treaties and protocols, she added. Article number 62 for 1992 stated protecting the rights of those infected and to respect the privacy and confidentiality of their cases, she said, adding that article number 31 for 2008 considered the necessity of medical examination of those intending to get married, to determine any infections with the virus in order to protect families. Al-Shomer said that Kuwait has a low record of AIDS due to the strict procedures the ministry follows to insure having a safe transfusion of blood, put blood donors into a thorough checkup, and sterilizing policies. The ministry also works on preventing AIDS infection especially in key medical departments such as dialysis and organ transplant, she added. She said that the medical examination given to expatriate labor in their countries and the checkup they receive in Kuwait before gaining their residency permit is another positive strategy to prevent AIDS infection. The ministry is continuously in contact with the UN's Joint Program on AIDS, WHO, and other international organizations, including participating in international, regional and GCC related meetings and conferences. Kuwait had presented reports required by the UN's Millennium Development Goals issued by the UN's millennium summit held in 2000, where the 6th goal stated that AIDS must be fought and prevented, she noted. Al-Shomer also added that the UN's main aim in the years 2011-2015 is to prominently decrease the numbers of new AIDS infections to reach zero, including reducing the numbers of deaths caused by the virus to zero as well