RIYADH, 4 December 2005 — The King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh has launched an awareness campaign about how to prevent AIDS. The campaign is part of the Kingdom’s observance of AIDS Week in line with the goals of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The second annual AIDS workshop held at the KFSH attracted over 300, including medical and health professionals. In the evening, the hospital organized an awareness program in Arabic to tell non-English speakers how the dreadful disease could be prevented .
“Most of the cases diagnosed for AIDS in the Kingdom were contracted abroad,” observed Dr. Abdullah Al-Hoqail, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Second Annual Workshop.
Although some 2,000 HIV-positive cases exist among Saudis in the Kingdom, Dr. Hoqail stressed that there is a strong need for an organized campaign to keep the disease out of the Kingdom. “The incidence and prevalence of the disease continues to rise, therefore such a program needs considerable effort and commitment.”
The Kingdom is equipped with the necessary drugs and knowledge for the effective treatment of HIV patients. He noted that the HIV Clinic at KFSH was set up in the late 1980’s and so far it had treated some 600 patients.
Dr. Hoqail said that AIDS had become a social phenomenon in Saudi society. “HIV patients are socially stigmatized and discriminated against,” he added. “This attitude should be changed and those who ostracize them must realize that some of those suffering are innocent victims. They need the sympathy of their friends and relatives at the time of such an illness,” he stressed.
