Will Kerala make Pre-marital HIV test Mandatory ?

 

11 January 2011 http://www.thehindu.com/2011/01/11/stories/2011011157230400.htm   Make pre-marital HIV test must: women's panel Staff Reporter Commission forwards suggestion to government Other States had to withdraw legislation after protests Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Women's Commission has recommended to the State government to pass a resolution or to frame laws, if necessary, to make pre-marital HIV testing compulsory in the State. The Commission's recommendation, which has been listed prominently in its latest annual report, was forwarded to the government following a sample study conducted in the State in 2009-10, its chairperson D. Sreedevi said. “We have seen many cases where the women became infected with HIV after marriage. I have interacted with organisations working with HIV-positive people, where several women said that they were infected by their partners. There is no harm in ensuring that one is not HIV-positive before getting married,” Ms. Sreedevi said. The Commission has also recommended to the government to formulate special schemes to ensure the welfare of children who are HIV-positive. However, the recommendation of the Commission is sure to open a Pandora's Box as there are several ethics and human rights issues involved. Several NGOs as well as networks of HIV-positive people are bound to be up in arms against compulsory testing for HIV. It is the National AIDS Control Organisation's (NACO) stated policy that HIV testing should always be voluntary, with compulsory pre-testing and post-testing counselling. Compulsory or coercive testing for HIV is not the national policy as it is felt that the social stigma carried by the HIV-positive tag will make a lot of people who require medical care go ‘underground'. In fact, all the other States which proposed compulsory pre-marital testing for HIV — Goa , Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra — have had to abandon the legislations because of protests it sparked and also because of the innumerable questions brought up by these legislations regarding public health costs, infrastructure and social implications. http://www.thehindu.com/2011/01/11/stories/2011011157230400.htm © Copyright The Hindu

 

 

 

From: KeralaAIDS@yahoogroups.com [mailto:KeralaAIDS@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 11:53 PM
To: KeralaAIDS@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [KeralaAIDS] Will Kerala make Pre-marital HIV test Mandatory ?

 

Kerala women's panel wants HIV test before marriage

Indo-Asian News Service, 10 January 2011

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/kerala-women-s-panel-wants-hiv-test-before-marriage-78339

Thiruvananthapuram:  The Kerala Women's Commission (KWC) has asked the state government to pass resolutions and if necessary, a law to ensure that all those who get married undergo an HIV test.

"This is an issue that is affecting the entire humanity and hence adequate measures have to be taken to safeguard all," KWC chairperson Justice (retd) D. Sreedevi said.

The commission made the request in the wake of several cases where men got married in spite of knowing that they were HIV positive.

KWC submitted an annual report with the recommendations to the state government last week. The panel also asked the government to support the children of the HIV affected.

According to the Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS), a total of 55,167 people have been infected by HIV/AIDS in the state.

The HIV prevalence rate in the general population is 0.26 percent, which is less than the national average of 0.34 percent.

The KWC expects that with the budget session of the Kerala assembly scheduled for the first week of next month, their demand will be considered by the government.


http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/kerala-women-s-panel-wants-hiv-test-before-marriage-78339

         

 

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