HIV Infection Rate in Eritrea Worrying, UN Says

The latest figures show Eritrea's national HIV prevalence rate is 2.4 percent, Dominique Mathiot, UNAIDS country program adviser, said recently. "We are worried by this rate because above 1 percent means the epidemic is generalized. The rate for pregnant women here is above 5 percent and in any country the HIV prevalence rate can within three years increase from 2 percent to 12 percent," he said, adding that due to government efforts, the prevalence seems to have currently stabilized. The country has increased free, anonymous HIV testing, and conducted prevention campaigns among the armed forces and UN peacekeeping soldiers, according to UNAIDS. Mathiot noted that limited cross-border mobility has also helped control the spread of HIV/AIDS.

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