World AIDS Day: No AIDS case registered in Kurdistan in 2017, says Health Minister

The Health Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Rekawt Hamarashid, announced on Friday that no cases of AIDS had been registered in the Kurdistan Region in 2017.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Health Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Rekawt Hamarashid, announced on Friday that no cases of AIDS had been registered in the Kurdistan Region in 2017.

“Fortunately, so far in the Kurdistan Region, the prevalence of the disease remains very low. Over the past 30 years, only 26 cases have been registered among the people of the [Kurdistan] region, and the infection has killed five people,” Hamarashid stated on his official Facebook account to mark the World AIDS Day.

He mentioned that in the past year, 396,770 medical checks were conducted and only 26 cases of AIDS identified among foreigners visiting the region, after which they were immediately deported back to their countries, the Kurdish official explained.

He noted that programs, campaigns, and activities were ongoing in the Kurdistan Region to raise social awareness and provide people with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS.

December 1 is the designated World AIDS Day. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are roughly 36.7 million people worldwide who were living with the virus in 2016, with 1.8 million new cases being added that year.

Editing by Nadia Riva