since 1984, according to spokesman Yaqub al-Mazrou.
Saudi Arabia has a population of 20 million and its 6
million foreign residents are required to undergo compulsory medical tests
before being allowed into the country. If foreigners become known to be
HIV positive, they are immediately deported.
US HIV agencies under scrutiny
US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson has started a review of financial support
to 16 major Aids service organisations across the country. The groups
include the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Aids Project Los Angeles and the
Treatment Action Group. San Francisco's Stop Aids Project is under investigation
after complaints in Congress about explicit safer sex campaigns and the
audit controller of Los Angeles County is investigating how $80 million
set aside for Aids services seems to have mysteriously disappeared.
EU pledges more money for Aids
The European Commission has pledged an additional €22 million (£14m)
to fight the spread of Aids in poor countries. The commission said it
would spend the money on funding prevention projects for young people
and the funds would add to the €120 million (£80m) the EU office
pledged last year to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria.
Europe 'complacent' about HIV
Rising levels of gonorrhoea and syphilis across Western Europe mean that
complacency over HIV prevention efforts has set in, says a new study in
the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Drs Francoise Hamers and Angus Nicholl
found that new diagnoses of sexually acquired HIV infections rose by 20
per cent in Western Europe between 1995 and 2000. Rates of gonorrhoea
and syphilis have also increased in France, the Netherlands, Sweden and
the UK, particularly among men who have sex with men. The authors of the
BMJ study say that sexual health has deteriorated, Aids campaigns seem
to have been forgotten and efforts to prevent HIV transmission need to
be strengthened.
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