JEDDAH, 17 December 2002 — Yaqub Al-Mazroue, undersecretary for Preventive Medicine at the Health Ministry, denied that the Kingdom is hiding the actual number of AIDS patients in the country.
He emphasized his ministry has never made any such attempt and issued the actual number of people suffering from various killer diseases including AIDS, Al-Jazirah newspaper reported yesterday.
According to the latest study, there are 1,238 HIV positive cases in the Kingdom, Mazroue said. The undersecretary also said that there are four centers for the treatment of drug addiction in the Kingdom — Al-Amal Complex for Mental Health in Riyadh, Al-Amal Hospital in Jeddah, Al-Amal Complex for Mental Health, Psychological Rehabilitation Ward at the King Fahd Hospital in Qassim.
The official also denied that the number of mental patients were on the increase in the Kingdom.
