World day for virus to be held on Dec. 1, with activities across country

Jessy Chahine
Daily Star staff

Unless using protection during sexual intercourse becomes as accepted as brushing one’s teeth, the country will face an AIDS epidemic, according to Jacques Moukhbat, an infectious-disease doctor.
“This is why awareness campaigns, such as World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, are necessary to compensate for the lack of progress in Lebanon when it comes to treatment and prevention of the disease,” Moukhbat said, speaking on behalf of the Lebanese AIDS Society (LAS), which he founded.
“We have to be more open about this. At this rate, people will not realize that there’s a serious problem until it explodes in their faces,” Moukhbat told The Daily Star.
According to Mimo Said, head of the communication department at the Social Affairs Ministry, the intensive contribution of the private sector and a large network of NGOs working in collaboration with the National Aids Program made World AIDS Day “a success.”
Support for AIDS awareness programs is also offered by UN agencies, the World Health Organization, the Health Ministry, and the Social Affairs Ministry.
“Joint efforts have helped to promote various activities, including community based intervention, production of awareness material, and organization of large youth meetings,” she said. These meetings, along with AIDS hotlines, are promoted by posters on bus stops across Beirut.
A recent youth forum for AIDS awareness held at the American University of Beirut (AUB), titled “Live and Let Live,” was one such collaboration. The two-day meeting, which began on Thursday, featured the participation of many NGOs, such as LAS and Services Infirmiers pour le Development Communautaire, and was held under the auspices of UNICEF.
During the forum, students were invited to attend educational conferences about AIDS prevention and transmission.
“Peer education is, I think, the most efficient way to spread awareness among 15 to 24-year-olds,” said Rani Sarkis, a medical student at AUB who participated in the exhibit. “It is always easier for young people to listen to their peers.”
During AUB’s AIDS awareness campaign, booklets featuring the upcoming National Aids Program were distributed to the students.
According to the booklet, a song on AIDS prevention addressing young people is currently being produced and would be aired on local television stations in December.
The lyrics and the music were written by Henri Zoughaib and Elias Rahbani, and it is sung by Pascal Sakr.
Teams of volunteer health educators will bring AIDS awareness activities to three villages that would be decided later on the weekend of Dec. 29-30.
According to Moukhbat, the first diagnosed AIDS case in Lebanon was in 1984. Since then, he said, 706 people have been diagnosed with HIV. “Two hundred people are, as we speak, undergoing medical treatment.”
The treatment for AIDS here costs some $1,500 per month. Although the Health Ministry and the National Social Security Fund attempted to provide the funding, the financial resources they have are not always enough.
A program is currently being developed to deal with this issue, Moukhbat said.
“This program will allow the Health Ministry to obtain the medication more cheaply by signing contracts with drug companies,” he added.