JAZAN — Around 70 HIV cases are discovered in Saudi Arabia every year during pre-marital medical checkups but the Kingdom remains among the Arab countries least affected by the virus, according to an AIDS consultant at Jazan's King Fahd Hospital. Dr. Mohammed Bin Mohammed Al-Hazmi told local Arabic daily Al-Madinah that about 97 percent of female AIDS patients in the Kingdom contracted the disease during their married lives. He said: “These patients contracted the infection during their conjugal lives, not outside of them as was commonly believed.” He said Jeddah tops all the Kingdom's towns and cities in terms of the number of AIDS patients. Al-Hazmi said the pre-marital examination, which is compulsory for every couple planning to tie the knot, has greatly reduced marriages involving people with the disease. He said about 99 percent o f children born to mothers with HIV were safe. “We have 17 healthy children born in Jazan to HIV positive mothers.” Al-Hazmi announced a medical examination program for pregnant women would soon be introduced. He said not more than 1 percent of children born to an AIDS patient would obtain the virus. He said: “AIDS is no longer a fatal disease. It has now become a chronic disease and there is no need for people to look down with disdain and contempt at patients.” Al-Hazmi asked AIDS patients not to shy away from seeking medical help, assuring them of complete confidentiality and said there are enough centers for AIDS treatment in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Jazan, Abha, Al-Asha and Madinah. He said medicine is available free of charge even though it is usually very expensive and can cost SR6,000 a patient a year. Al-Hazmi revealed that there are only 15 prisoners with AIDS all over the Kingdom and called for treating foreigners and supplying them with enough medicine before deporting them home. — SG
