AIDS in Kuwait
In yesterday’s Kuwait Times is a letter to the editor from a young medical student who had done training in the Kuwait infectious disease hospital. He writes that the hospital is not to tell ANYONE a patient has HIV, not even the spouse. The spouse is only told when the patient dies. The cause of death on the death certificate is never “AIDS”. When asked, the doctor in charge said “in a Muslim country having AIDS will damage the person’s reputation, and we just can’t have that,” adding that it was a sensitive issue, and the best way to deal with it was denial.
The writer goes on to say that it was not just this doctor’s policy, but the policy of the entire hospital. It goes on to say that legislation was proposed to ensure that before marriage, blood tests would be taken to insure they are clear of infectious diseases, but this legislation was shot down by more fundamentally religious members of Parliament.
My Saudi Arabian women friends once told me that a Muslim could never say a bad thing about another Muslim except in two cases – one case is if you are asked about a person’s suitability for marriage, and the second is about a person’s suitablility for a business partnership, and in these cases you must speak frankly. Isn’t having a family member with an infectious blood disease one of those cases? Or a proposed husband?
Wouldn’t you want to know if your proposed husband had a serious infectious disease? Or your current husband/wife? Aren’t there precautions that need to be taken as far as exposure to blood of HIV/AIDs infected persons? Aren’t family members, firefighters and traffic police running a risk with accident victims?
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All i could say is not informing people is just pure stupidity and has nothing to do with Islam. If they want to talk about religion then why not say God punished those people with HIV because they sinned and deserve to be exposed. For the past couple of months people who are infected with this disease are increasing in Kuwait at an alarming rate according to the local newspapers but do people care? i don’t think so, what do you expect from a country that is ignorant when it comes to STD’s thanks to the lack of education.
Reema:
(Welcome, I also enjoy your blog)
Almost every country is having the same problem facing the problem of AIDs and STD’s. The South African Minister of Health says AIDS victims should eat “beetroot and ginger.” She is the laughingstock of the international comunity.
My heart goes out to all the innocent victims, the wives of men who lacked the compassion and courage to confess their affliction and who selfishly refused to use protection during sex, and the the most innocent of all, the children, who, even if they don’t catch the disease, suffer the loss of one or both parents.
As far as AIDS being a punishment for sinning . . . we have all sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. Many walk around with invisible defects in character and soul. We will all have to answer on the last day. . .
That doesn’t make any sense. I would totally agree with confidentiality but if the husband has AIDS the wife MUST be checked for the same thing for her own good. I mean it makes sense not to tell anyone else but the wife?!
I heard something on the radio once where there was a special unit that dealt with people who were HIV positive and there was complete confidentiality.
The only person who was told was the spouse because obviously that is the person directly concerned.
We need more information on this issue although I don’t doubt the letter from the young doctor at all.
do i need to be a member to comment on this blog?
JoeyG – anyone is welcome to comment who is 1. not a spammer and 2. respectful of the opinions of others. So . . . welcome!
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