Official Says AIDS Awareness in School Curriculum Is Iran's New Revolution

Iranian children will be taught about AIDS and how to avoid it for the first time starting in September, the head of the country's AIDS program said Monday. In an Islamic nation where talk of anything related to sex is largely taboo, the Education Ministry previously shunned proposals to include AIDS awareness in schools on grounds that it promotes corruption among young people. But Bahram Yeganeh, head of the National Committee to Fight AIDS, said a rapid increase in the number of Iranians infected with the AIDS virus persuaded education officials to support a nationwide campaign to promote public awareness as a way of containing the disease.

"This is a new revolution for Iran, a great step forward to contain spread of a disease more dangerous than a bomb," Yeganeh said. He said AIDS awareness materials will be included in compulsory secondary school programs in the new academic year beginning Sept. 23, and later the subject will be included in textbooks. For younger students, AIDS will be described in the simplest way, such as a "bad disease that harms people." For high school students, the material describes how people can be infected, including through sexual intercourse. The materials for older students also mention condoms but the emphasis is on respecting religious and family values and avoiding sex outside marriage. The material also cautions against used hypodermic syringes.

By January 2002, 3,340 individuals in Iran were registered as HIV-positive, and the total number of Iranians infected was estimated at over 19,000, Yeganeh said. In 1999, the number of people documented to have HIV was only 1,800. Yeganeh said more than half of those infected were drug addicts who had used contaminated syringes.

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