November 30, 2009 - 13:52 AMT
808 people with HIV officially reported in Armenia
808 people with HIV are officially reported in Armenia. 

"How many cases of infections should we have and how many healthy children have  to lose their sick parents to make our people understand that we are facing a serious problem?" Anahit Harutyunyan, chairperson of Armenian Network of Positive People told a news conference in Yerevan. "We call on everyone to join our action on December 1, the World AIDS Day," she said.

There was a general understanding among public sector representatives of the low public awareness of HIV transmission, which contributes to further spread of the disease among the population, as well as the negative attitude of people to the infected the virus. 

"We can treat and prevent HIV but few people dare to register because of negative public attitude towards those living with HIV,"  Co-Chair of "Real world, real people" NGO Hovhannes Madoyan said.