80,000 affected with AIDS in Iran: health minister

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (MNA) - Health Minister Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi announced on Tuesday that 80,000 people are infected with the AIDS virus in Iran.

Talking on the sidelines of a meeting with the executive board of UN in Iran, she said that so far only 25 percent of the HIV positive persons have been diagnosed.

“Comparing world’s rate, this rate is not high, but comparing country’s culture it is,” she uttered.

Pointing to Iran’s success in controlling the disease in prisons, she explained that the rate of the AIDS transmission among addicts who inject drug has decreased from 3/8 to 1/4.

She added that the AIDS rate has dropped and reached to about zero in pregnant women and their newborns.

Vahid-Dastjerdi went on to say that persons with “dangerous” sexual behavior are susceptible to the disease.

She further said that most of the HIV positive people are drug addicts and 7 percent of the addicts are grouped among sexual AIDS transmitters which may cause an “AIDS volcano” in the future.

She noted that people should receive necessary training, adding the Health Ministry plans to establish special clinics in the high risk areas.