Amman - The Jordanian health authorities have detected 55 AIDS cases so far this year, including eight cases in November and October, a senior health ministry official said Saturday.
"The infected people were 13 Jordanians and 42 foreigners," the Ministry`s Assistant Secretary General for Health Care Affairs Dr. Adel Balbisi said.
The figure raises to 481 the number of AIDS cases discovered in Jordan in the past two decades, he added.
"All infected foreigners are deported from the country while Jordanians contracting the disease and their relatives are forced to attend consultation sessions and receive the required remedy and care," Dr. Balbisi said.
He made the remarks on the eve of a workshop due to open on Sunday to discuss recommendations by the Anti-AIDS Strategy Panel, including the high prices of medicines required by AIDS-infected patients.