Dr Salma Ibrahim Anas: Meet Mr President’s first appointment in health sector

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a new virus (HIV) that caused the devastating disease, AIDs had emerged and spread around the world. The impact of this new virus on people and the economy was only just becoming obvious. People were terrified, the association of the new disease with sexual transmission was stigmatising, and doctors lacked the knowledge and resources to respond. One of the most upsetting emotional consequences of the virus was that it could be transmitted on to unborn children by pregnant mothers.