JEDDAH, 7 May 2005 — The Ministry of Health has announced that there are 3,592 Saudis suffering from AIDS currently in the Kingdom. This figure represents 46 percent of a total number of 7,808 AIDS sufferers in the country.

Dr. Abdul Aziz Abalsaud of King Saud Hospital for Infectious Diseases said proper medical care is available for Saudis suffering from the disease through various government- and privately-funded resources. For expatriates, however, medical care must come through their consulates and embassies, he said.

When a Saudi is diagnosed with AIDS, he or she is required to register with the health authorities. “The patient undergoes counseling and is taught how to manage the disease. It is stressed to them that their longevity is dependent on their individual management of the disease and personal care,” Dr. Abalsaud said.

Saudi patients are also schooled about living with AIDS and the ways in which it spreads. Their activities and health are monitored periodically. “So long as their behavior is not criminal, they are free to live among the populace,” Abalsaud said.

There are many charitable foundations and resources available to provide Saudi AIDS patients with life-prolonging antiviral medicines, including protease inhibitors which work to slow down the spread of the HIV virus in the body.

This course of treatment has been discovered to be the most effective in managing the disease but because of its high cost, it is only made available to Saudis. For expatriates infected with the HIV, health care must come through their consulate or embassy.

Expatriates diagnosed with HIV are transferred to one of three hospitals located in Jeddah, Riyadh or Dammam. They are kept in hospitals until they are deported.

According to Abalsaud, expatriates are not given the life-prolonging antiviral medications while they await deportation. “Saudis are the only ones who receive the antivirals,” he said.

“Antiviral treatment costs more than SR5,000 per person per month so the Ministry of Health has decided that these medicines can only be provided to Saudi AIDS patients. The embassy is responsible for the expat patient’s medication.”

Unfortunately, many of them don’t.

“We give the expatriates simple, sometimes over-the-counter medicines to help them cope with some of the symptoms. We try to make them as comfortable as possible until they are deported,” Abalsaud said.

According to nurses who work with AIDS patients at King Saud Hospital, the Philippine Consulate is the quickest to act when its citizens are diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Deportation of their nationals does not normally take longer than a month but, in the case of some other countries, it can take as long as three years.

In a Ministry of Health report published last year, Dr. Tarek Madani, adviser to the minister of health, said that clear guidelines existed regarding the treatment of expatriate AIDS patients. “First, they will be treated in the Kingdom until they are in a stable condition and then they will be deported to their home countries,” he said.

Ismael is a 20-year-old man from Myanmar (formerly Burma) who has been awaiting his deportation for a year. When asked if Ismael has been given any antiviral treatment, Abalsaud said, “No. He will have to wait until he gets to his own country.”

Ismael’s case is special. “He will probably be here for a while because Myanmar doesn’t have an embassy or consulate here in Saudi Arabia,” the doctor said.

Despite his predicament, Ismael is happy to remain in the Kingdom, even if it is in a hospital. “My family is here, this is where I was born and raised. I have never been outside Saudi Arabia,” he said.