By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - The Health Ministry has initiated an awareness campaign at the Kingdom’s universities and colleges, urging students to undergo tests for HIV/AIDS, director of the disease control department, Bassam Hijjawi, said on Tuesday.

The campaign, which was launched at the Jordan University of Science and Technology on Monday, will target the country’s 50 public and private higher education institutions in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, he added.

“We have set up information booths at the university’s registration department… a place visited by all students, with information on AIDS and the hotline they can call for more information,” Hijjawi told reporters yesterday, adding that a liaison officer will be appointed in each university to run the campaign.

“The one-year campaign will also include lectures and workshops at a later stage,” he noted.

Jordan is categorised as a low HIV prevalence country - 1 person per 10,000 is diagnosed with the disease - and the ministry maintains efforts and programmes designed to keep the rates low.

“The total number of cases registered in the Kingdom since 1986 stands at 653, of whom 201 are Jordanians," Hijjawi said.

Ministry figures indicate that 71 AIDS cases were detected in 2007, 13 of them Jordanians, while 12 tested positive in 2008.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry official said no food poisoning cases were registered in 2008, due to the precautionary procedures adopted by the ministry following several incidents the previous year.

Among these was suspending milk distribution under the School Nutrition Programme (SNP), and Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) guidelines aimed at ensuring adherence to food safety and hygiene standards.

In 2007, around 200 students were admitted to hospitals in Deir Alla, reportedly falling ill after drinking milk distributed under the SNP, while hundreds of food poisoning cases were registered as a result of eating chicken shawerma.

At the time, the JFDA issued new regulations governing operations and safety standards at shawerma outlets.