Kuwaiti authorities have ordered five policemen behind bars for refusing to detain a runaway AIDS patient, a newspaper reported on Monday.
The policemen, fearing they might catch the killer disease, asked for the help of an ambulance and medical staff, which were not immediately available, Al-Qabas said.
The AIDS patient, a Kuwaiti citizen who managed to escape, was still at large and the policemen were put in jail, it added.
Under Kuwaiti law, nationals found to be AIDS patients, especially in an advanced stage, must stay in the emirate's Infectious Diseases Hospital for treatment.
More than 20 Kuwaitis have died of AIDS and 70 have tested positive for the HIV virus since 1984, but the number could be higher as screening is not compulsory for nationals.
Foreign workers, however, are obliged on arrival in Kuwait, as in other Gulf Arab states, to undergo a series of medical tests for a wide range of diseases before they can obtain a residence visa.
The emirate deported 552 expatriates in the first seven months of this year suffering from serious illnesses. Twenty-one of the deported workers tested HIV positive while 208 others were found to have hepatitis B at an advanced stage – KUWAIT CITY (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
