UNESCO organized the event in late September to help Arab media understand its role in preventative health education. The participants discussed ways to inform infected people about their rights and to improve communication between information, education and health sectors in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), about 0.3 percent of the region's adults are currently infected with HIV or
AIDS. While these statistics are relatively low compared to other regions in the world, the groups say that the incidence of infection is increasing, and the total number of AIDS deaths has increased by almost 600 percent since the early 1990s.

A 2003 report by the World Bank says that greater investments in surveillance, prevention, and care are needed to maintain the low prevalence levels.

"Mass media engagement in educating the public has not been fully used," according to the report, titled "HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa: The Costs of Inaction." The report is available at http://tinyurl.com/6t28v.

The Lebanese Minister of Information, Michael Smaha, told the workshop participants that his ministry, along with the Arab press, would "spare no effort" to help the U.N. and its agencies carry out AIDS awareness campaigns in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.

This is the third media workshop on HIV/AIDS awareness organized by UNESCO in 2004. Similar programs wereconducted earlier in the year in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Bangkok, Thailand.