The paper also quoted Dr.
Ahmed Muhammad Kanaan, head of the department for combating contagious diseases
in the Eastern Province, as saying that annual expenditure for the treatment of
a single AIDS patient could reach $50,000 because medication is costly.
The report also revealed 93
percent of HIV cases in the Kingdom spread through sexual relations. Taking
drugs using syringes was another major reason for the spread of this deadly
disease in the country.
Of the total number of AIDS
cases reported in the Kingdom, 4,458 were among Saudis and 11,876 among
expatriate workers. About 10 percent of AIDS cases have been found among Saudis
in the Eastern Province, the paper pointed out.
Kanaan said the treatment of
AIDS is expensive as patients have to purchase costly medicine throughout their
lives. “Medical treatment cannot achieve a complete cure. It can only reduce
the symptoms,” he said. Research work is in progress to find a complete cure
for the disease.
Kanaan said there was little
possibility of the HIV virus being transferred through blood transfusions as
the blood is only taken from donors after stringent tests are conducted. AIDS
will not spread by dining together or shaking hands with a patient. Advanced
devices have been developed to detect AIDS cases quickly and correctly.
Dr. Khaled Mirghalani,
spokesman of the Health Ministry, said his ministry has been providing
necessary medical care and moral and material support to AIDS patients and
their families. “We have established 20 centers across the Kingdom to provide
medical advice and counseling to patients. In addition there are five mobile
centers and free diagnosis centers in Riyadh, Madinah, Dammam and Jazan,” he
added.
Sociologist Salma Al-Ali said
lack of awareness was the main reason for the spread of AIDS in the Kingdom.
“Many people do not know how this disease transfers from one person to another.
Many people get a big shock when they are diagnosed with HIV. They usually
carry out blood tests several times to make sure the report is correct. Some
people try to commit suicide while others try to spread the disease to take
revenge,” she pointed out.
Al-Ali said AIDS patients
required mental and social support. “I know a woman who tried to commit suicide
when she became pregnant carrying her first baby while infected. She got the
virus through her husband.”
One 17-year-old girl admitted
that she got the disease as a result of illicit sexual relations with a friend.
“My parents have died and I am living with my brother’s family. They have kept
me in a single room without allowing me out, except for going to hospital. They
will not allow me to eat with them. I have thought several times about
committing suicide.”
Another woman said she
contracted the disease from her husband. “My husband died seven months after he
tested HIV positive. I am still living. In my case the disease was not that
serious and it seems in a dormant stage. Although I had tried for jobs,
employers denied me jobs when they found out that I am an AIDS patient. I told
my children that I was infected through my husband and not because of any
illicit sexual relationship.”
The paper also quoted a young
Saudi man as saying that he got the disease through his relations with women.
“I never thought I would get this disease and I had not taken any precautions,”
he said.
Ahmed Abdullah, deputy consul
at the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi, said expatriate workers are allowed to enter
the Kingdom after conducting necessary medical tests including for AIDS. These
tests are conducted at authorized health centers approved by the Saudi Health
Ministry. “The embassy will not deal with health centers that do not comply
with the ministry’s conditions,” he told the paper.
