Head of National Sexual Transmitted Diseases Programme Dr Somaya Al Jowder told Khaleej Times that although syphilis was a curable disease it spread quite easily and could lead to death if was not treated.
She said that a need to review the strategy arose when as many as 286 syphilis cases were reported between January and June of this year, while only 305 cases were discovered in the whole 2007.
The cases were diagnosed during routine tests of 80,285 blood samples from blood banks, besides conducting pre-marriage tests and regular checkup. She said that in all cases patients were advised to get treatment at the earliest.
Dr Somaya Al Jowder said that although the government efforts to fight Aids were being appreciated worldwide, the threat of the rise of sexual transmitted diseases was a matter of concern for health experts.
The main challenge syphilis poses in Bahrain is that it is common among individuals aged from 20 to 39, she said. “The issue could be attributed to the new lifestyle adopted by people in Bahrain as most of them have started visiting foreign destinations and meeting foreigners.”
“We are calling upon people to follow certain preventative methods that start with abstinence, to avoid catching the infection,” Dr Al Jowder advised.
‘Gulf countries committed to declaration on human rights in Islam’
KUNA: Gulf countries are committed to the 1991 Cairo Declaration on human rights in Islam, GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiya said Thursday.
The declaration represented a major evolvement of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for humans everywhere, Al-Attiya said in a statement on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In his statement, Al-Attiya expressed deep grief over the tragic situation of the Palestinian people and their suffering from siege and deprivation of the simplest basic needs, as well as tarnishing the secrecy of al-Aqsa Mosque in a blatant violation of the content and spirit of the international human rights declaration.
Al-Attiya also called on the international community to put an end to all these violations.
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
