Arab News
RIYADH, Oct 28: Saudi Arabia is preparing a national AIDS program that will ensure the protection of rights of AIDS patients and give them the same rights as others to education, health, social activities and employment. The program will also ensure that people with the HIV virus will not be discriminated against in government and nongovernment institutions because of their condition.
Officials from The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) and a representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) met yesterday to prepare the initial draft for the new program’s guidelines. Upon completion, it will be submitted to the minister of health who will then submit it to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for final approval and implementation. A copy of the program will also be sent to the UNDP in order to be officially recognized as Saudi Arabian law.
According to the NSHR president, Bandar Al-Hajjar, the rights group began gathering ideas a year ago. The decision was taken because Saudi Arabia currently does not have a law in which the rights of people with the HIV virus are protected.
The sources of the national program are based on Islam and the international agreements signed by Saudi Arabia in the field of human rights. Among the key features of the program is the establishment of a “national center” which will have many branches. The center will have the responsibility of gathering data on AIDS in the Kingdom and will also be responsible for providing medical treatment to persons with AIDS.
The guidelines are to protect AIDS patients’ privacy as no doctor or medical personnel will be allowed to inform persons or other medical institutions of the patient’s condition without his authorization.The program specifies that medical institutions or medical personnel must provide emergency admission to the AIDS patient if and when necessary.
Another provision of the proposed law requires that the spouse of the HIV-infected person be informed immediately by medical personnel if certain symptoms appear and he/she refuses to undergo a medical test.