LGBT Rights in Saudi Arabia - HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS

By law, every Saudi citizen who is infected with HIV or has AIDS is entitled to free medical care, protection of their privacy as to how they got infected and employment opportunities. The government has produced educational material on how the disease is spread and since the 1980s Abdullah al-Hokail, a Saudi doctor who specializes in the pandemic, has been allowed to air public service announcements on television about the disease and how it is spread.

Yet, ignorance, fear and prejudice are often directed at people living with the disease. While the government has designated several hospitals to treat those people infected with AIDS or HIV, other hospitals often refuse to care for such people or fail to treat them in a compassionate and humane manner. Hospitals and schools are often reluctant to distribute government information about the disease because of strong taboos and the stigma attached to how the virus can be spread. For example, condoms are legal, but until recently, they were rarely available anywhere other than certain hospitals or medical supply stores.

While Health Ministers and religious leaders express the need to treat people living with the virus decently, they also note, "When Islam forbids adultery and homosexuality, it does so for the benefit of the human spirit and a person’s welfare and protection”.