Number of AIDS patients officially registered in Egypt is estimated at 5,000 cases, according to Health Ministry’s estimates, said Waleed Kamal, head of the ministry’s national program on fighting of AIDS, on Friday.
The program, according to Kamal, is intensifying efforts to declare Egypt free of AIDS by 2030.
The number of cases that are discovered every year is increasing every year due to efforts by the program nationwide and spread of its examination centers that offer its services in complete secrecy, Kamal said. He also pointed to progress in treatment that encourages the patients to undergo medical examination.
He added that despite prior accusations blaming foreigners for the spread of HIV, the tourist sector is not the cause of transmitting the infection and that no links have been proved between foreign tourists and transmission of the virus in Egypt.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
