“With an annual increase of 439 new patients, the rise in the number of HIV cases in the Kingdom has been estimated at 10 percent,” the National Program for AIDS, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health, said in its latest report.

Elaborating on the report, member of the board of directors of the Charity Society for AIDS Care and head of the department  of contagious diseases at King Abdul Aziz Medical City in Riyadh Dr. Adil Al-Othman said,

“The number of AIDS cases has been rising at the rate of 400 patients annually in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The number of AIDS patients since 1984 to 2001 was estimated at 1,285. It was found that there were 3,173 new patients in the period between 2002 to 2010. The total number of patients reached 4,458 at the end of 2010.”

Al-Othman made the observation while speaking in a training program to combat contagious diseases organized by the Health Department in Jeddah on Monday.

He pointed out that the number of AIDS patients in other countries is on the decline. He attributed the decline to the awareness campaigns undertaken in the countries where the disease has been spreading.

He said the AIDS Care planned to launch intensified campaigns on the spread of the disease and the preventive measures against it disease with special focus on youths. The launch will coincide with the World AIDS Day on the Dec.1, he added.