There has been an uproar of people in Saudi Arabia criticizing health officials after a 12 year old girl was given a blood transfusion that is said to have tested positive for HIV. The girl has sickle cell anemia and received the blood transfusion on February 12 at the main hospital in Jazan, her village. A few hours later, a team from the hospital came to her house to inform her and her family that the blood given in the transfusion had tested HIV positive. She was then airlifted to a bigger hospital in the Saudi capital, but it has remained unclear whether she has tested positive for HIV or not. A representative from the government-backed Human Rights Commission is representing and investigating her case. He stated that this was a pure form of negligence. Open criticism of government officials is relatively rare in this country, but this situation has seemed to spark anger from most people. Ministry officials have been attacked on Twitter and by the public, although non have yet resigned. A talk show host pointed out that if this would have happened in another country, the ministry official(s) responsible, would have already resigned. The case is still being investigated and the health of the girl for the present and future has not yet been confirmed.
This situation is an extremely sensitive topic because Saudi Arabia is mostly an ultraconservative Islamic community. The article stated that HIV and AIDS remain taboo subjects to this day and criticism of government officials is extremely rare. The health of the girl in this case is also extremely serious. The girl was already ill with sickle cell anemia and now she has the stress of the HIV and potential AIDS. Her family is distraught and in shock and the girl has received thousands of views on her youtube video in which she is asking for prayers for her and her family. The situation could have been completely avoided if the health care team would not have been negligent. If they knew that the blood was HIV positive just hours after her transfusion then why would they have not tested it beforehand? Or, if they did test it beforehand, why did nobody check the results before it was given to the girl? These are required protocols in health care especially with HIV on the rise worldwide. In regards to the government officials, they are not used to public criticism but they are also not taking responsibility for what has happened and trying to put blame on everybody else. What it comes down to is the health care team had a responsibility to help the girl and keep her safe and through their negligent practices, they failed at this. Its truly disturbing to think that this could really happen anywhere at any time and to such innocent victims. Hopefully, the situation will get worked out and the girl and her family be compensated for their loss. Although money cannot take away HIV, it will make others aware and hopefully make health care practices even more strict in the future.
Jessilyn Bulla
February 22, 2013
4:45 pm
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/world/meast/saudi-arabia-hiv-case/index.html?hpt=imi_c2
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