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Mandatory Screening, Sex and Marriage Curbs Intensifies AIDS Debate in Malaysia
With the Malaysian government’s latest proposals for compulsory screening and sex and marriage curbs for HIV+ sufferers, the national AIDS debate has only intensified on how a Muslim-majority state handles the sensitive issue.
The issue has revealed a sharp gulf in thinking in this multiracial nation of 27 million people, with AIDS activists critical of attitudes they say are stigmatizing people with the deadly disease and its precursor HIV.
Last week, deputy premier Najib Razak said all Muslim couples would have to undergo mandatory HIV screening before they wed - a test so far only applied in certain states.
He also suggested the measure should be expanded on a voluntary basis for non-Muslim couples.
A senior opposition politician went further Monday, saying couples with HIV should not be allowed to marry at all or have children.
"I think it is a gross error to allow somebody very sick like that, an HIV carrier, to marry," Mohammad Nizar, of the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or the PAS, told the New Straits Times newspaper.
"If there's any breeding - sorry for having to use that word - the embryo will also carry the same virus. It's very unjust to the child," added Nizar, whose party controls the northern state of Perak.
According to United Nations figures, more than 82,500 Malaysians have been infected with the virus since records began in 1986 and, while precise data is hard to obtain, around 80,000 are currently living with HIV/AIDS.
The issue has revealed a sharp gulf in thinking in this multiracial nation of 27 million people, with AIDS activists critical of attitudes they say are stigmatizing people with the deadly disease and its precursor HIV.
Last week, deputy premier Najib Razak said all Muslim couples would have to undergo mandatory HIV screening before they wed - a test so far only applied in certain states.
He also suggested the measure should be expanded on a voluntary basis for non-Muslim couples.
A senior opposition politician went further Monday, saying couples with HIV should not be allowed to marry at all or have children.
"I think it is a gross error to allow somebody very sick like that, an HIV carrier, to marry," Mohammad Nizar, of the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or the PAS, told the New Straits Times newspaper.
"If there's any breeding - sorry for having to use that word - the embryo will also carry the same virus. It's very unjust to the child," added Nizar, whose party controls the northern state of Perak.
According to United Nations figures, more than 82,500 Malaysians have been infected with the virus since records began in 1986 and, while precise data is hard to obtain, around 80,000 are currently living with HIV/AIDS.
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