RIYADH, 8 December 2004 — The Kingdom spent SR15 million for the prevention and treatment of AIDS last year. This included the distribution of three million leaflets explaining the disease to the public.
“We treat AIDS as a serious health problem and are making every effort for its prevention and control,” Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine Dr. Yaaqub Al-Mazroue said at a seminar on AIDS prevention at the Prince Salman Social Center here yesterday.
Those attending the seminar include young men and women from the Kingdom’s high schools and universities as well as from security officers training colleges.
In addition to AIDS treatment centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, Dr. Al-Mazroue said the ministry planned to open one in Jizan. “About 1,700 Saudis have been infected with AIDS over the past two decades and a third of them died,” he explained.
In his address, Dr. Muhammad Al-Jefry, the director-general of Parasitic and Infectious Diseases Department at the Ministry of Health, said the government had plans to overcome the problem through epidemiological study and research, health education, medical care and liaising with international agencies to keep abreast of advances in the treatment of the disease.
He said there had been 6,000 cases of AIDS among expatriates since 1986. As part of its awareness program, the Ministry of Health has deployed a mobile team to visit remote towns and villages to educate the public.
