The number of known AIDS cases in Egypt since the first documented diagnosis in 1986 total 3313, according to the third Anti-AIDS conference held on Monday in Cairo.
Of this total, 2102 AIDS patients are still alive, and 20.4 percent of those living with AIDS are female.
The rate of infection in Egypt is roughly five cases per one million Egyptians, with 71.5 percent of cases contracted through unprotected sex.
In 5.1 percent of cases the infection was transmitted by injection, and in 1.8 percent of cases the infection was passed from pregnant mothers to unborn babies.
Half of all cases reported were of people between the ages 25-40.
Ihab Abdel Rahman, head of the Ministry of Health's AIDS program, said the syndrome is now dealt with as a chronic disease, much like diabetes, with the patient not completely cured but able to live with the infection.
Abdel Rahman said AIDS treatment is available in Egypt, and a large number of AIDS medications are now produced in Egyptian facilities.
Ahmed al-Turk, imam for the Nour mosque in Abbassia, said several AIDS patients attend his mosque on a regular basis and are helped by the preachers at the mosque.
Al-Turk added that no one except a physician has the right to ask AIDS patients how they received the infection, as such an inquiry would be an invasion of privacy.
Safwatal Bayadi, head of the Christian evangelical community in Egypt, said the teachings of Christ dictate an AIDS patient should be supported just like any other patient.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
