Epidemics: AIDS Cases Increasing in Muslim Countries
AIDS is on the rise in many Muslim countries, driven by men having sex with other men in secret because of homophobia, religious intolerance and fear of being jailed or executed, according to a new study.
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The new report, released last week in the journal PLoS Medicine, was led by researchers from the Qatar branch of Weill Cornell Medical College who drew from dozens of smaller studies in Arabic, French and English.
About 2 to 3 percent of men in the region have sex with other men, consistent with global averages, the study found. But condom use is low, gay and bisexual prostitution is common, and many married men hide their bisexuality and risk infecting their wives. In some countries, even male prostitutes often marry for appearances’ sake.
Truck drivers, prisoners and street children often engage in risk behaviors for H.I.V. infection; in Pakistan, infection rates are rising rapidly among transgender prostitutes known as hijra.
The lowest rates of condom use were reported in populous countries like Egypt and Pakistan, while they were highest in Sudan (above), Oman and Lebanon.
To fight their nascent epidemics, some countries have adopted compulsory H.I.V. testing for marriage licenses and work visas.
Accurate statistics on some aspects of health are hard to get from governments in some Middle Eastern countries. For example, international health authorities say that the world’s highest rates of birth defects are in Muslim countries where cousins sometimes marry, but that governments are reluctant to admit it.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 20, 2011
The Global Update feature on Aug. 9, about a report on AIDS in Middle Eastern and North African countries, misstated the report’s findings pertaining to truck drivers, prisoners and street children. Those populations were found to frequently engage in behaviors that put them at risk for H.I.V. infection; they were not found to have high rates of H.I.V. infection.
that one is being noted down for future uses 
