Saudi Arabia: Hospital Gives HIV, Minister Gives iPad · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Reham al-Hakami is a 13-year-old girl who got infected with HIV after being given a blood transfusion in a hospital in Jizan, in southern Saudi Arabia.
On Riyadh Bureau, blogger Ahmed Al Omran explains:
The case sparked wide outrage on social media sites, where many users demanded that the Minister of Health Abdullah al-Rabeeah resign from his position. Al-Sharq newspaper reported that the minister has visited Reham at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center on Saturday and gave her an iPad as a gift, a gesture that was mocked by many on Twitter.
The storm of reactions, under the hashtag [ar] #الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد which translates to “al-Rabeeah presents Reham with an iPad,” is led by this tweet by Summer, which has been retweeted 1,715 times and counting:
@Sughmmer: #الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد hey sorry about what happened so take this ipad and download some apps while you're waiting to die
Haifa Alrasheed asks [ar]:
#الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد لو ماتت وش بيصير؟ بيعطي اهلها اي ماك مثلا؟!
@Haifa_: And what happened if she dies? Will he give her family an iMac?
Olfat Gushgari echoes a similar idea:
@olfatg: what's next ? A MacBook for a paralysis caused by a surgical errors #unbelievable
And @7iat_20 wonders why the girl was not flown for treatment abroad yet:
#الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد ‏​ميزآنيہ‏​​​ وزآرة آلصحہ‏​​​ 86 مليآر وتعطيهآ آآيبآد ‘بدآآل مآترسِسلهآ تتعآلج بِمستشفيآت متخصصہ‏​​​ بهآلحآآلآت !!
@7iat_20: The Health Ministry's budget is 86 billion (Saudi Riyals) and you just give her an iPad instead of sending her to a specialised hospital for treatment?
Bassam Altamimi notes:
#الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد خطة وزارة الصحة ف المستقبل صرف جهاز آيبادلكل من يقع عليه خطأ طبي إذا كان ع قيد الحياة وإذا توفي يعطى الأيباد للاهل
@BASSOOME: The Health Ministry's plan in the future is to give an iPad to all those who are victims of medical malpractice if they are alive and to their relatives if they are dead
While Suleiman Alosaimi projects new profits for Apple, the company which produces the iPad, saying:
#الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد عاجل الاسواق الامريكيه تتوقع ارتفاع ضخم في مبيعات شركة ابل وتتوقع ارباح خياليه بسبب الاخطاء الطبيه في السعوديه
@bofares_55: The American markets predict a huge increase in profits from the sales of Apple products because of medical malpractice in Saudi Arabia
And Khaled Aldhaheri adds:
أتمنى أن تكون شرارة توقظ الشعب من السبات #الربيعة_يهدي_رهام_ايباد
@5aled_DH: I hope this is the spark that wakes up the nation from its slumber