Some 2,075 patients infected with the HIV virus had been registered in Yemen by 2006 but the figure was mostly likely underrecorded due to inefficient monitoring, the Yemeni news agency reported Monday.
A large number of HIV carriers were not registered as they did not go to hospitals, and the real figure of affected people might reach as many as more than 20,000, Yemen's AIDS prevention authorities were quoted as saying.
The biggest obstacles for the health department to obtain an accurate figure are the inefficient monitoring and diagnosis system, and social discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients in the country.
An earlier report from the Public Health and Population Department said
a large number of AIDS patients in Yemen are from African countries.
According to the data provided by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are about 150,000 African refugees in Yemen.
Source: Xinhua
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