Over 600 Saudi women got AIDS from husbands

More than 600 Saudi women have contracted AIDS by their husbands and most of them were not aware of the infection until after they had children, a Saudi doctor has said.

Sana Filimban, head of the Saudi Charity Association for AIDS victims, said the Gulf Kingdom had 1,233 reported cases of the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome in 2012, including 431 Saudis and 802  expatriates.

She told the Arabic language daily Okaz that male victims of the killer diseases far exceed females, with an AIDS ratio of one woman to five men.

“More than 600 Saudi women have been infected with AIDS by their husbands without their knowledge…many of them discovered they have the disease only after they had some children…this has discouraged most infected women from seeking a divorce as they wanted to look after their children,” she said.

“I call on all married Saudi women to have medical test before pregnancy or at least in the early stages of pregnancy so an infection will not be passed to the infant.”

Filimban said Saudis aged between 15 and 49 years account for nearly 74 per cent of AIDs victims in the Kingdom and that 96 per cent of them have received the virus through sexual intercourse. Most of the remaining victims were infected as a result of having drugs or contaminated needles.

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