KABUL - The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Monday signed a cooperative memorandum of understanding (MoU) on treatment of prisoners suffering from HIV/AIDS.
A MoPH statement said deputy public health minister Dr. Ahmad Jan Naim signed the MoU with the MoI on Monday.
It quoted Naim as saying the aim of the MoU was to reduce HIV/AIDS disease in prisoners and prevent the virus spreading to healthy inmates in jails.
The agreement includes treatment of HIV/AIDS positive prisoners, free of cost tests for diagnosing HIV virus, counseling, implementation of needed vaccinations and treatment of prisoners affected by TB and Hepatitis B, he said.
Naim said implementation of the agreement was important for reducing and diagnosing of HIA among inmates.
Policy and strategy assistant at MoI, Maj. Gen. Massoud Aziz, welcomed the agreement and said: “Addressing health related problems of prisoners is one of the government’s main jobs, the ministry supports this good action and will take serious steps for its implementation.”
According to the MoPH statement, a total of 2,326 people are infected with HIV/AIDS virus across the country. (Pajhwok)