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IslamOnline Poll Indicates Slight Majority Doubt Government HIV Numbers
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) – A slight majority of IslamOnline visitors who participated in a poll asking whether they believed official numbers of those infected with the HIV virus issued by governments in Muslim nations were accurate, indicates they believe actual numbers are higher.
The question produced see saw results throughout the week as visitors who answered through Tuesday indicated by a 67 to 19 margin that they believed the actual numbers of those infected with the HIV virus – an infection that leads to AIDS – in Muslim nations reporting those figures were higher than those reported in official statements by those Muslim nations.
By Thursday, IslamOnline visitors participating in the poll believed that official government numbers reflected an accurate count of those infected gained a slight lead of 134 to 130.
As of this writing shortly before the poll closes, 46% (150) believe that governments in Muslim nations are nearly accurate in their reporting of HIV numbers. However, a slight majority of 54% (174) believe that actual numbers of cases are higher.
Because of the disease’s initial relation with homosexual lifestyles, HIV and AIDS are highly charged issues within Muslim nations. Not only do some doubt that true numbers are being reported from government non-disclosures as a result of Muslim nations’ apprehension about reporting a disease linked to behavior considered a sin within Islam, doctors and patients are as well reluctant to report the disease, fearing social backlash and, in some cases, penal and capital punishment.
Iran, for instance, in its official report on AIDS in the country, revealed that HIV infection occurred through infected shared needles used mainly by heroin addicts, blood transfusions and infections from spouses. However, a large portion of infections was written off as sourced from “unknown” factors.
In Pakistan, the government reported that HIV infections were limited to numbers in the hundreds, while international health organizations state that the numbers are closer to the tens of thousands.
Many fear that if under-reporting does occur in Muslim nations because of fear of social outcasting or government repression, the disease will spread more rapidly, infecting and possibly killing more people.
International health organizations stress that HIV and AIDS is not limited to those that engage in homosexual activity, but that the great majority of those infected acquire the disease through other means, including through spouses, drug addiction and medical blood transfusions.
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