“The five-day forum is the first meeting to involve representatives of the 22 Arab countries,” Dr. Sana Filimban, director general of the AIDS Program at the Ministry of Health, announced in Riyadh on Sunday.
The forum will be attended by experts as well as representatives of nongovernmental organizations and AIDS activists.
“The main aim of the forum is to outline ways to develop and improve the plans of the National Strategy for the Prevention of HIV, along with reviewing national strategic plans and policies of the Arab countries,” she said.
She indicated that the forum is expected to discuss the plans agreed upon in the Political Declaration of 2011, and consider the actions to be taken to implement such commitments.
The forum agenda includes reviewing actions to tackle AIDS in Arab countries, the extent to which the commitments and obligations of the Political Declaration of 2011 have been met, as well as taking measures to enforce these commitments.
All UN member states have approved the declaration of each country’s major national priorities for combating AIDS.
Filimban noted that the forum will be accompanied by a scientific and social program on the occasion of World AIDS Day, falling on Thursday, with the participation of a number of medical institutions, including the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Oncology Center, and a range of international organizations concerned with AIDS.
The forum will discuss the latest scientific developments related to the disease, methods of treatment, recent cases, ways to prevent the prevalence of infection in the community, in addition to supporting AIDS patients and finding ways to engage them in society and to preserve their rights soundly by ensuring them proper incomes, health care, curative services, follow-up services, as well as psychological and social support.
Filimban said earlier that she would work to eliminate social stigmas relating to HIV and ensure that people who have the disease are not deprived of their rights.
She said another priority is to create mutual cooperation between government agencies and private organizations to correct society's view of HIV patients, spread health awareness among students and develop HIV patients’ skills so they can earn a living.
Filimban also stressed the importance of women’s role in fighting the viral disease and ensuring that people are protected against it.