The number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, although small compared to other regions in the world, is significant and is a cause for concern.
Although the MENA region has just 2 percent of the world's HIV caseload, it is one of two regions in the world with the fastest growing HIV/AIDS infection rate.
According to U.N. statistics, 500,000 adults and children in the region live with the virus. AIDS-related mortality has almost doubled in the past decade among adults and children while diminishing or remaining the same in the rest of the world.