An Iranian charity organization reports that students afflicted with HIV-AIDS are being expelled from schools and women suffering from HIV-AIDS are being laid off.
Mohammadreza Seyyed Ghassemi, the head of the Payamavaran Hamyari Foundation, told ILNA on Saturday October 31 that those suffering from HIV-AIDS face “severe discrimination and mistreatment in Iran”.
He said they have had instances where students have been expelled as soon as the school staff found out they have HIV-AIDS.
He added that 100,000 people are said to suffer from HIV-AIDS in Iran, and only 28,000 to 30,000 have been identified by health services.
He added that the mistreatment and stigma attached to the sickness have forced many to refrain from seeking adequate medical care or getting tests to inform themselves about their condition.
He added that medication for AIDS sufferers is offered free of charge; therefore, the identification of AIDS patients is crucial to offering adequate medical care.
Last year, Iran’s Minister of Health also spoke out against the stigma attached to AIDS becoming a serious obstacle to adequate public education about the disease.
