While HIV infection rates are declining globally, the disease is spreading dramatically in Egypt. According to UNAIDS, HIV infections in the country are increasing at an annual rate of 25- 30%. An estimated 11,000 Egyptians were living with HIV as of 2016, most of them under 49.

“The 25-30% annual increase has been estimated by the number of people undergoing HIV testing and being diagnosed with the virus,” Ahmed Khamis, the country manager of UNAIDS Agency in Egypt, told Al-Monitor.

However, the real numbers could be much higher. Testing is still not common despite government efforts to provide free and anonymous HIV testing in governorates across Egypt. Fearing stigmatization, people are still reluctant to get tested for HIV, preferring not to know. At the root of the stigma is HIV's association with immoral behavior, such as illicit sexual relations and drug use.

“The problem is that there is an assumption that those who have HIV are drug users, homosexuals or sex workers, but this is not true. Those indeed could be the ones who are most at risk of contracting this virus. But they also have families — husbands, wives and children — who if infected are forced to live with this disease for the rest of their lives in a society that heavily discriminates against anybody living with HIV,” said Khamis.