RIYADH, 26 March 2008 — A Human Rights Commission (HRC) recommendation to establish centers across the Kingdom for sufferers of blood diseases has recently been approved by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
Following a Council of Ministers decision, the HRC was given authority to visit the provinces of Qatif and Al-Ahsa and study ways to curb the spread of diseases there. The centers, to be built in Qatif, Ahsa, Jizan and Madinah, will be tasked with the duty of treating patients and conducting research into the illnesses.
The HRC stated that King Abdullah approved a number of its recommendations, including one advising the Ministry of Social Affairs to construct several charitable centers across the Kingdom to receive kidney-failure patients.
The king approved a third recommendation requiring marriage registrars (mazoons) not to wed couples at probable risk of producing unhealthy children.
The government rights body had also recommended that the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Civil Service accommodate blood-disease sufferers who apply for jobs, in the same way kidney patients are treated. It also recommended that people with such diseases should not be stopped from working, as these illnesses are not contagious.
In addition, the HRC recommended that the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training to accommodate sufferers of these diseases.
The commission also called on the Ministry of Culture and Information to launch awareness programs about blood diseases using television and radio. “The king’s approval of HRC’s recommendations stems from the government’s keenness to resolve problems that touch the lives of citizens and residents alike,” said HRC member Dr. Khaled Al-Obeid.
