The most likely reason for infection, said the report, was unprotected sexual
contact although the shared use of needles for injecting drugs was also cited
as a major factor, especially in Iran and Libya. The report also revealed an
alarming degree of ignorance. Around 20 percent of women in Sudan, for example,
were said to believe they could be infected by sharing a meal with an
HIV-positive person. And only 5 percent were aware that the use of condoms
could prevent infection. This compares with some two-thirds of Sudanese women
who had either never seen or even heard of a condom.
The UN report emphasized that there was a dire need across the entire region
for "more, better and in-depth information about the patterns of HIV
transmission."
Saudi Arabia's initiative to launch an awareness campaign in the kingdom on
HIV\AIDS can therefore only be welcomed. Whatever the extent of the campaign,
it is also a courageous move. The ruler of the kingdom also carries the title
of "Guardian of the Two Holy Shrines" and as such is seen as equally the
custodian of Muslim morality.
Apart from victims who contract the virus through transfusions of contaminated
blood, HIV patients are almost by definition people who have been indulging in
immoral acts. Promiscuous sex is as abhorrent to Islam as it is to
Christianity. The acknowledgement that HIV/AIDS is a problem is equally a
recognition that immorality exists. To recognize is not, of course, to condone.
Nevertheless this bold step into the real world of 2005 can have beneficial
consequences well beyond the boundaries of Saudi Arabia. Sudan is also, mostly,
an Arab Muslim country and, judging from the statistics quoted in the UN
report, is badly in need of its own awareness campaign. That same report said
official data from Egypt showed that most HIV infections in ther Arab world's
most populous country were caused by unprotected sex.
In Jeddah, where 60 percent of the kingdom's HIV cases have been reported, the
Saudis are marking World AIDS Day Thursday by having ambulances drive through
the city while handing out booklets on frequently asked questions about AIDS.
As a start to help stop the spread of AIDS in the region and beyond, similar
campaigns are clearly also needed in Sudan, Egypt and many other Arab
countries.
