ENDEMIC DISEASES IN SAUDI ARABIA

File: 950825_53310044_90r.txt
Page: 90r
Total Pages: 1

Filename:53310044.90r
SUBJECT: ENDEMIC DISEASES IN SAUDI ARABIA

[      (b)(1) sec 1.3(a)(4)    ]













 INFECTIOUS DISEASES. IN THE HOT MONTHS OF
LATE SUMMER DISEASE HAZARDS ARE GREATEST. ALTHOUGH RESEARCH HAS
BEEN VERY LIMITED, ENDEMIC DISEASES IN SAUDI ARABIA INCLUDE 
RABIES,
MENINGITIS, POLIO, MALARIA (IN SOME AREAS), LEISHMANIASIS AND
HEPATITIS "A." LOCAL FOOD HANDLING METHODS ARE A MAJOR SOURCE OF
CONTAMINATION WHICH CAN CAUSE AMEBIC DYSENTARY AND HEPATITIS "A."
SOURCE CAUTIONS THAT EVEN "WESTERN STYLE" ESTABLISHMENT5 MAY BE
HAZARDOUS BECAUSE MOST KITCHEN EMPLOYEES ARE NON-SAUDI, THIRD
COUNTRY NATIONALS (TCN), WHOSE PERSONAL HYGIENE PRACTICES ARE
QUESTIONABLE. NEITHER HOST NATIONALS NOR OTHER TCN'S SHOULD BE
CONSIDERED AS PROSPECTIVE BLOOD DONORS AS THEY ARE OFTE CARRIERS
OF HEPATITIS AND OTHER IRFECTIOUS DISEASES.
2.  DISEASE STATISTICS. THE SAUDI GOVERNMENR UNDERREPORTS
INFECTIOUS DISEASE STATISTICS, ESPECIALLY THOSE RELATING TO 
VENEREAL
DISEASE. [      (b)(1) sec 1.3(a)(4)    ] SAUDIS, LIKE MOST ARABS, 
FEEL THAT
ADMITTING TO SUCH THINGS IS A LOSS OF FACE AND SUGGESTS IMMORAL 
AND
UNCLEAN BEHAVIOR, BOTH OF WHICH ARE FORBIDDEN IN THE KO AN.) THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ARABIAN AMERICAN OIL COMPANY, 
((ARAMCO)),
PUBLISHES DISEASE STATISTICS BUT THIS DATA IS EDITED BY THE SAUDIS
AND SHOULD BE VIEWED WITH SOME SKEPTICISM.
[      (b)(1) sec 1.3(a)(4)    ]






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