VZCZCXRO8914
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0005/01 0351409
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P R 041409Z FEB 08
FM IRAN RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0219
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDHP/DIA DHP-1 WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0161
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0193
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI 0212

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000005 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR GAYLE, BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD; 
BAKU FOR HAUGEN, ISTANBUL FOR ODLUM; 
PARIS FOR WALLER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/4/2018 
TAGS: IR PGOV SOCI TBIO
SUBJECT: IRAN:  LACK OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000005  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns,  Director, Iran Regional Presence 
Office, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
 
 
 
1.(C) Summary.  Despite the growing number of HIV cases in Iran, 
the country lacks political leadership in its fight against the 
disease, according to an Iranian epidemiologist.  For example, 
he asserted, the Iranian government did not observe World AIDS 
Day on December 1, 2007.  Although Iran's AIDS-related programs 
have improved in the past six years according to the doctor, 
there continues to be tremendous social stigma toward the 
disease.  Religious and cultural restrictions prevent open 
discussions and information campaigns.  Furthermore, he claimed 
that the government occasionally engages in public 
disinformation, claiming success and declining prevalence rates 
which contradict evidence and hinder prevention and treatment 
efforts.  The government does the minimum to absolve itself of 
responsibility and is not making inroads, according to several 
Iranian health workers.  End summary. 
 
Government lacks leadership on HIV/AIDS 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2.(S) According to an Iranian epidemiologist, Iran's leadership 
made no observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007, and 
there were no AIDS awareness messages on public television. 
(Note: According to UNICEF`s website, there was an art exhibit 
at a major Tehran park to raise awareness on World AIDS Day in 
December 2007.  This program was supported by UNICEF Iran and 
organized by a major Iranian non-governmental organization as 
well as other NGOs, UNAIDS, the UN office of Drugs and Crime 
(UNODC), and the Tehran municipality, and the country's Disease 
Control office. Endnote.)  The epidemiologist, who was in Dubai 
applying for a visa to attend an HIV/AIDS workshop at a 
California university, told IRPoff that although Iran's AIDS 
response has improved in the past six years, public outreach and 
awareness is sorely lacking. 
 
3.(S) According to the epidemiologist and his wife, a midwife in 
Tehran, treatment for HIV/AIDS has not yet acquired broad social 
support in Iran, and advocacy comes mainly from the medical 
community.  He said that Tehran University's Center for AIDS 
research and Iran's Disease Management Center held a joint 
conference for medical scientists around AIDS Day.  However, 
most publications and articles regarding HIV/AIDS are limited to 
the scientific community and do not address the general public. 
The only public campaign poster the doctor recalled seeing was a 
large poster in Tehran's Mehrabad airport.  He mentioned another 
smaller ad from about three years ago which he said cautioned 
physicians about treating HIV-positive patients; he said this ad 
was quickly removed, leading him to believe it was released 
without approval. 
 
 
 
4.(S) In Iran, most health-related messages come from the 
minister of health, but the epidemiologist believed that because 
the current minister of health and his deputy both happen to be 
gastrointestinal physicians, they are less interested in 
HIV/AIDS.  According to an Iranian psychiatrist who operates a 
small private drug addiction clinic, the government disregards 
the country's HIV/AIDS problem and denies the drug problem that 
is helping the spread of the disease.  She said the government 
does the minimum to absolve itself of responsibility.  Several 
other Iranian health workers also felt that the government was 
making little progress fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
According to a recently retired Iranian military nurse and a 
young orthopedic surgeon, former President Khatami was the only 
Iranian leader to ever publicly acknowledge that HIV/AIDS is a 
serious problem in Iran.  They indicated there is no mandatory 
AIDS testing in the military, and testing at marriage is only 
recommended.  According to a psychiatrist with a drug addiction 
clinic, the government promotes the idea of voluntary HIV 
testing and counseling for specific groups such as pregnant 
women.  According to the epidemiologist and his wife, hospitals 
do not test patients for HIV prior to medical operations; 
doctors can perform consensual HIV testing if suspicious of a 
patient's status for protection of medical personnel. 
 
5.(S) In contrast, the epidemiologist praised the directors of 
 
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Iran's Disease Management Center and Tehran University's AIDS 
Research Center whose efforts and dedication, he said, have 
improved the country's HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment 
programs. 
 
AIDS stigma remains 
 
------------------- 
 
6.(S) According to the epidemiologist, Iran's leaders do not 
address the country's HIV/AIDS problem in public to avoid 
addressing the culturally taboo topics of intravenous drug use 
(IDU) and sexual transmission that are largely responsible for 
the spread of the disease in Iran.  Separately, a doctor from a 
charity hospital in southern Tehran said there is a strong 
social stigma in Iran associated with HIV, even among the 
medical community who sometimes turn away HIV-positive patients. 
 Although he maintained the government is starting to address 
the AIDS issue, he agreed with the first source's assessment 
that cultural limitations are negatively impacting efforts to 
educate the public.  He said that because of religious 
restrictions, officials do not discuss the disease's details and 
methods of transmission.  Even public service campaigns are 
vague, for example he described one ad with an image of a woman 
with the AIDS red ribbon symbol, with the message "I am aware" 
without naming the disease.  According to the retired military 
nurse and the orthopedic surgeon, Both sources maintained that 
the current government denies and downplays the problem probably 
for religious and moral reasons. 
 
7.(S) Iranian officials still deny and sometimes misinform the 
public about HIV/AIDS, according to the epidemiologist.  He said 
that in a December 2007 speech, Health Minister Lankarani 
claimed that the number of AIDS cases in Iran is declining due 
to the country's free AIDS treatment program.  The doctor said 
this claim contradicts evidence of rising prevalence reported by 
the UN and other sources. 
 
Antiretrovial drug therapy 
 
-------------------------- 
 
8.(S) The Iranian government provides AIDS antiretroviral drug 
therapy for free, but only to a very small number of people. 
According to the AIDS researcher, centers for behavioral 
diseases run by the ministry of health provide antiretroviral 
therapy, and most of the government's AIDS budget goes towards 
treatment, as it costs 300 thousand Tomans or about 300 dollars 
to treat one patient.  The researcher claimed that there are 
only about 200 patients under treatment, and the government has 
supplies for a total of 300 patients.  She said they use generic 
drugs, mainly Nelfinavir from Pfizer, which prevents 
HIV-infected cells from reproducing, but drug resistance is 
growing and there are not many drug options.  She said that 
about 70 government outreach clinics operate in Iran. 
 
Iran's new AIDS drug 
 
-------------------- 
 
9.(S) In September 2006, Iran's president announced that Iranian 
scientists at Tehran University had come up with a new drug that 
boosts the immune system to better fight the AIDS virus.  Two 
doctors claimed separately to IRPoff that actually Russian 
scientists developed the drug and then sold the patent to Iran 
after the Russian ministry of health rejected their product. 
According to the two Iranian AIDS experts affiliated with Tehran 
University, the medicine has passed small and large animal 
testing and is now on trial on human volunteers.  The same 
sources explained that the medicine, an immune cell booster, 
technically referred to as a CD4 booster, is called IMOD and is 
a natural selenium-based drug.  The AIDS expert said Iran's 
Fars-Russ company performed animal testing in Iran.  She 
explained that the drug has a low toxicity level and is being 
administered to volunteer patients.  She said the best results 
have been among those with a CD4 count of 340-200, but patients 
more advanced in their disease and lower CD4 counts also 
benefited from it. 
 
10.(C) Comment:  As in many countries, HIV/AIDS is a sensitive 
topic in Iran.  The country's efforts in research and treatment 
areas are positive but lack frank and honest discussions about 
intravenous drug use and sexual transmission, the primary 
methods of infection in Iran.  Furthermore, government 
 
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disinformation about the seriousness of the situation undermines 
efforts to raise public awareness about the disease.  The theme 
of this past World AIDS Day was "leadership," a factor which 
appears to be lacking in Iran. 
BURNS