Al-Istiqlal University and Directorate of Health in Jericho are Organizing a Symposium on World AIDS Day

2017-12-16

The Center for Community Service and Continuing Education at Al-Istiqlal University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities and the Directorate of Health in Jericho, organized a scientific symposium on the occasion of "World AIDS Day" for fourth year students.

Mr. Sha’aban Ayyat, the Director of the Center for Community Service and Continuing Education, thanked the Palestinian Ministry of Health representing Jericho Municipality for its continuous cooperation with Al-Istiqlal University in all activities and events which reflects the students’ health education and enhances the joint cooperation.

Dr. Eynas Abu Laban , an assistant prof. at Faculty of Humanities, talked about the aim of celebrating the World AIDS Day is to raise awareness of the risks of infection and its spread, taking into account the recommendations of the World Health Organization in partnership with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS).

The seminar included a scientific lecture on the risks of HIV / AIDS, the means of prevention and its effects on the individual and the society. Zainab Qazah, the head of Preventive Medicine at Jericho Health Directorate, told the students about the disease, which is a case of "HIV" and  leads to the destruction of white blood cells which causes a reduction in the number of CD4 cells to 200 cells, then the destruction the immune system in the human body is the result.

She also pointed out the symptoms of the infection-based disease, ranging from the initial stage of a month or more, to the clinical infection ranging from 8 to 10 years, to the stage of emergence of symptoms and development of the virus. She talked about the ways of infection as sexual relations, abuse drugs, and from mother to her child as well as other means in which the disease is transmitted through the infected person to non-infected persons.

The number of people living with HIV is 37 million in 2015, of whom 1.5% died. In 2016, there are 16 million new infections, but the proportion of those infected has decreased as a result of awareness via media.