Middle Eastern health workers are putting aside religous and political divisions and joining forces to fight the spread of the AIDS virus.

In one corner of the huge 11th International Conference on AIDS here, four Palestinians, three Israelis and one Jordanian grouped in the Jerusalem AIDS Project are staffing a booth among other non-governmental organizations.

"We are showing that you can stand above political, religous and regional barriers and come together on an issue that you feel is important," said Diane Abraham, head of Bethlehem University's school of nursing and representing the Palestinian community in the West Bank.

While Middle Eastern and North African countries have one of the world's lowest rates of infections with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, an upsurge in heroin use, international tourism and the region's deeply conservative cultures make it vulnerable, members of the delegation said in interviews Tuesday.

About 200,000 people are living with HIV or AIDS in the Mideast and North Africa out of a global total of 21.8 million, according to United Nations estimates.

Among problems facing the region is "the difficulty of conducting effective sexual health programs," according to a study by international epidemiologists prepared for the conference.

"We're talking about a region in the world that has cultures that are very, very conservative," said Inon Schenker, executive director of the Jerusalem AIDS Project and a doctoral candidate in public health at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

The group plans to produce a newsletter in Hebrew, Arabic and English providing AIDS prevention information in a way that diplomatically deals with the region's cultural sensibilities.

It is also organizing seminars for health professionals including nurses and midwives who can spread AIDS information to far-flung villages that might be hostile to outsiders talking about a sexually transmitted disease.

"We haven't gotten into the conservative areas yet but that is our next step," Abraham said.

While the group's reach thus far is limited to the Palestininan communities, Israel and Jordan, members said they hope to expand.

A first step will be a dinner in Vancouver at the end of the AIDS conference that will bring together members of the Jerusalem AIDS Project and health workers from Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon, Schenker said.

"HIV is not only drawing apart different worlds but it can also put together the enemies of the past," he said.

Reuters NewMedia, Inc.
Richard Jacobsen