UNAIDS: 12,000+ HIV Infected People in Egypt

Only 2,115 cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported to the health ministry since 1986. But UNAIDS reckons the infection is much more widespread: It estimated there were 12,000 HIV positive people in Egypt at the end of 2003.

According to the UN 2005 Common Country Assessment of Egypt, 64 percent of all reported HIV infections in the country were caused by heterosexual intercourse, while 31 percent were the result of infected blood.

UNICEF reckons that a fifth of Egypt's population – some 15 million people – are vulnerable to contracting the virus that causes AIDS. UNAIDS expressed concern in its 2004 report on Egypt that the country still did not have a National Strategic Plan for dealing with the pandemic. Read more in this article by Reuters: Lifting the veil of taboo on HIV/AIDS