Thursday, January 25, 2007

Indian state plans mandatory HIV testing before marriage

Bangalore, Jan. 24, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The health minister of India’s southern Karnataka state said on Tuesday that the government will enact legislation to make pre-marital testing for AIDS compulsory.

The government minister, R. Ashok, said this legislation, which would be unprecedented in India, is necessary to prevent HIV-positive people from cheating gullible spouses by failing to disclose their AIDS infection.

The drastic measure comes as AIDS reaches epidemic proportions in some parts of India. Last year the country surpassed South Africa to gain the dubious distinct of having the world’s largest number of people reported HIV-positive; the figure is 5.6 million.

Amid growing demand over mandatory HIV testing, the Catholic bishops of India had a drastic measure, the Catholic bishops had earlier recommended that during a pre-nuptial inquiry, priests should remind couples of the duty to reveal their HIV status, and the right of each partner to ask the other whether he is suffering from any serious ailment.


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