JEDDAH, 25 August 2003 — The Health Ministry is working on a national plan to combat AIDS and enlighten the public on its dangers in coordination with public and private agencies, according to Dr. Tarek Madani, adviser to the health minister on contagious diseases.

He said the ministry had allocated SR20 million to supply medicine for the treatment of AIDS patients in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

The ministry recently opened a center at the Riyadh Medical Complex to provide advanced treatment to patients suffering from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Similar AIDS treatment centers will be opened shortly in Jeddah and Dammam, Madani said. They will be established at major health facilities and will be provided with advanced medical equipment, he added.

The move comes after the ministry registered 1,350 AIDS cases among Saudis. “An AIDS patient will cost the state SR100,000 to SR120,000 monthly,” Madani told Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper.

Asked about treatment of non-Saudi AIDS patients, the official said they would be given the necessary treatment before being deported to their home countries.

Recently a private hospital in Jeddah threw out an Indonesian AIDS patient without treating him. The health affairs department in Jeddah is investigating the incident, which involved the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital, as reported in Arab News.

Last Thursday, an African AIDS patient, who was admitted to a government hospital in Madinah ran away from the medical facility.

Al-Madinah Arabic daily said the patient, whose legs were chained, found a way out through the hospital’s dilapidated toilet without the knowledge of the security guards.

Baba Muhammad Hasan, a 19-year-old Nigerian overstayer, was admitted to a special room inside the hospital on the directive of Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie.

The minister intervened following reports that the hospital had thrown him into the street without providing him with medical treatment.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Taify, acting director of health affairs in Madinah, has denied any wrongdoing by the hospital, saying that Hasan was treated humanely.

Al-Manie has ordered a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the patient’s escape from the hospital.

The runaway AIDS patient caused shock waves among the Madinah people. Dr. Khairallah Hussein told Okaz that the patient posed a threat to the public. “The best way to deal with these patients is to isolate them from the public,” he said.

Masaad Al-Howaiti, a Saudi, urged the police to track down the man as quickly as possible to protect the public from the infectious disease.