Aim: The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of available HIV case reporting and treatment data for in Qatar for the period β Methods: HIV case reporting data were analyzed by sex and mode of transmission. Results: A total of HIV cases were reported to the Ministry of Public Health since beginning of reporting in , and that included Qatari nationals and expatriate residents diagnosed in Qatar.
There was an increase in the annual number of newly reported HIV cases from 16 cases in of these, 14 were males to 58 cases in of these, 54 were males. During the overall viral load testing coverage and viral load suppression among those tested for viral load in men were Qatar is a country located on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The estimated number of the population in Qatar in was 2,, people, of whom 2,, were men and , women 1.
In , it was estimated that the number of the Qatari population in the country was , while the number of non-Qatari was 2,, This gender imbalance is due to a high number of male migrant workers employed by various industries in Qatar oil and gas industries, construction work, food industry, etc. HMC is the primary public healthcare provider in Qatar.
Demographic and behavioural data collected as part of the HIV case reporting system include age, gender, nationality, marital status and mode of HIV transmission. Routine HIV testing in Qatar is carried out at a large scale, for both expatriates and locals, as part of medical check-ups during pre-employment health screening, students applying for a university, before marriage and in certain clinical situations antenatal care, patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis.
All foreigners coming to work or reside in Qatar for longer than a month are tested for HIV. Since October , migrant workers coming from certain countries, including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand have been allowed to test for HIV in designated laboratories in their countries of origin.
