Iran is fighting the spread of the AIDS virus by treating sufferers for free but taboos about the issue in the Islamic Republic are hindering efforts to raise public awareness, Iranian health officials said on Saturday.
Injecting drug users are the main risk group in Iran, which is on a heroin smuggling route to the West from the opium fields of neighboring Afghanistan, the world's number one producer of the opium poppy, the officials said.
But some health officials are concerned about the rising number of sexually transmitted cases of HIV.
More than 16,000 people suffer from HIV/AIDS in a country with a population of about 70 million, Deputy Health Minister Moayed Alavian told a conference. But he also said some estimates put the number of sufferers at 70,000.
"From this figure (of 16,000), 66.7 percent are injecting drug users," he told a conference at Tehran University to mark international AIDS day.
He said the Health Ministry faced challenges in fighting HIV/AIDS because of the social stigma attached to the disease and the fact that the subject was considered a taboo.
"There are also social and cultural limitations in providing education on how to prevent (the disease) and informing the public," Alavian said.
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Get Jailed for Tight Clothing This Winter
Iranian police will crack down on women in Tehran flouting Islamic dress codes with winter fashions deemed immodest, such as tight trousers tucked into long boots, an officer was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"Considering the start of the cold season and its special way of dressing, police will start early next week a drive against women who wear improper dress," Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
"Tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against Islamic codes," the police chief said.
"Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes."
Police officials were not immediately available for comment. The Iranian week begins on Saturday.
Police regularly clamp down on skimpier clothing and looser headscarves in the summer. Usually this is for just a few weeks but this year the campaign has run into the autumn.
There has not recently been a move against winter fashion.
Enforcement of Islamic dress codes that require women to cover their hair and disguise the shape of their body with loose overcoats has become progressively sterner since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.
Women found dressing inappropriately may be warned or, particularly for repeat offenders, can be taken to a police station and fined. Police this year have also cracked down on men sporting what are considered "Western" spiked haircuts.
"Considering the start of the cold season and its special way of dressing, police will start early next week a drive against women who wear improper dress," Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
"Tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against Islamic codes," the police chief said.
"Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes."
Police officials were not immediately available for comment. The Iranian week begins on Saturday.
Police regularly clamp down on skimpier clothing and looser headscarves in the summer. Usually this is for just a few weeks but this year the campaign has run into the autumn.
There has not recently been a move against winter fashion.
Enforcement of Islamic dress codes that require women to cover their hair and disguise the shape of their body with loose overcoats has become progressively sterner since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.
Women found dressing inappropriately may be warned or, particularly for repeat offenders, can be taken to a police station and fined. Police this year have also cracked down on men sporting what are considered "Western" spiked haircuts.
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