A total of 89 pregnant women were found to be HIV positive by the campaign, Babies Without AIDS, held at Jeddah malls last week, it was reported in sections of the Arabic press on Tuesday. The women were all given the necessary treatment, said Dr. Nazar Bahbri, Chairman of the Microbiology and Epidemic Society in the Western Region. Bahbri, who is an internal medicine consultant at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, urged the Ministry of Health to make it mandatory for all pregnant women in the Kingdom to undergo tests for HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS. He said the early detection of the disease makes it possible for doctors to prescribe effective treatment that will prevent the transmission of the disease to the fetus. Treatment is more than 99.5 percent effective if prescribed in the early stages of pregnancy. Bahbri said statistics from America show that for every one person discovered with AIDS, there are 10 undiscovered cases. Bahbri said the Babies Without AIDS campaign is being taken to all regions of the Kingdom to educate and inform people about the disease. He emphasized the importance of regular testing because the symptoms of the disease may only appear after eight years. People should not wait until they get the symptoms of the illness. Over 380 doctors and medical students from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah are participating in the education campaign. Bahbri said people living with AIDS should be treated better. “AIDS carriers shouldn't be treated as outcasts or marginalized or get fired from their jobs. It's not true that AIDS patients are quarantined or put in jail or stand trial in court. The disease is not transmitted by hugs, handshaking or kisses, it's transmitted by sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, organ transplants, use of razors, tattoo tools and drug syringes.” Dr. Dalal Namangani, Deputy Dean of the School of Medicine and Supervisor of the School of Pharmacy and School of Applied Medical Science at Taif University, said recent studies have shown that 124 newborn babies die annually in the Kingdom due to parents' ignorance of AIDS. The revelation follows a 2010 report by the World Health Organization showing that Arab countries are second after Africa in terms of the number of newborn babies who contract AIDS. According to a United Nations report, the number of newborn babies with AIDS in Arab countries reached 6,400 in 2010 compared with 100 babies in North America, 4,300 in South America and 3,400 in Eastern Europe. The main cause of these cases is lack of awareness and poverty. However between 2005 and 2010, treatment contributed to preventing 700,000 deaths and the percentage of newborn babies with AIDS decreased by 20 percent.
