Director of the Tunis office of «Lawyers Without Borders» Rami Khouili, Thursday, said that the number of cases of immunodeficiency virus, «HIV-AIDS» increased in 2022, to nearly 7,100, adding that only 26% received treatment.
He told TAP on the sidelines of a national conference on «HIV-AIDS and the Rights of Vulnerable Populations: Towards an Inclusive Approach» that the number of new cases of AIDS had been stable until 2010 with 70 new cases a year, yet, he underscored that, this number increased in 2020 to reach 150 cases a year.
Khouili underlined that cases of infection with this virus have declined in most countries in the world except in North Africa and the Middle East, according to world statistics.
He stressed the need to reform repressive legislation criminalizing HIV-AIDS patients who are also victims of exclusion and marginalization and find difficulty accessing information, healthcare services and social integration.
Representative of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), i
n Tunisia Ahmed Shehata pointed out that a large number of civil society organizations have offered, in collaboration with government bodies, training to lawyers and judges in defending lawsuits filed by HIV-AIDS patients, who are also victims of stigma and discrimination.
This national conference was held at the initiative of Lawyers Without Borders, in partnership with the UNAIDS programme, the International Development Law Organization and the National Office for Family and Population (ONFP) as part of a programme launched by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse