The Ministry of Health has rejected a project to test female students for AIDS, despite studies confirming the disease has increased tenfold among women over the past five years due to drugs, said Consultant of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health Hanaa Bakhsh.
“The project was supposed to be applied to female high school students in Jeddah, but the ministry put a stop to it, despite the approval of various parties including the Ministry of Education,” said Bakhsh.
She criticized the ministry’ stance during her awareness lecture at the Children’s Hospital as part of the events for International AIDS Day, which was attended by the assistant director of health affairs for treatment services, Ahmed Faden, and hospital director Faisal Kashighri.
“After we carried out the first step in the project, which was to promote awareness among 30 female high school students in Jeddah, and informed the ministry and parents of the project, it was put to a stop,” she said.
