The Saudi Health Minister, Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Manei, will open on Saturday at King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, the first regional seminar on "AIDS and Human Rights." The seminar is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with the executive office of the GCC health ministers council, Saudi Ministry of Health and UN's branch in Riyadh.
The Director General of the executive office of the GCC health ministers council, Tawfiq Ahmad Khoja, said that the seminar will discuss several AIDS issues, such as the international health sector's response to the disease, updating the region about it, national health regulations' plan in GCC countries and Yemen, AIDS patients' rights and consultations, programs aiming at raising health awareness and health services.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Khoja said that the seminar will discuss the measures undertaken by the WHO and other regional and international organizations to support the execution of patients' rights strategy and Islamic approaches toward patients' rights.
He hoped that the seminar would come up with recommendations that would contribute to correcting the misconceptions by AIDS patients that they should keep their illness a secret, hence preventing early treatment, and would encourage legislative regulations that would guarantee the rights of the AIDS patients.
