KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Dec 2008: The MCA’s government affairs monitoring bureau is against any plans to make it compulsory for non-Muslims to undergo human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening before getting married. Bureau head Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who is also the party deputy president, said: “We feel that it should not be made […]
HIV
Gerakan hits out at Perak MB’s view on people with HIV
IPOH, 22 Dec 2008: Gerakan Deputy President Datuk Chang Ko Youn today hit out at the suggestion by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin yesterday that people with HIV must never be allowed to marry and should instead be quarantined for treatment. Describing the idea as primitive, Chang said such an idea had […]
Mandatory HIV screening for non-Muslims too?
PEKAN, 20 Dec 2008: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government will study whether the non-Muslims can be required to undergo HIV screening before they get married to prevent the spread of the disease. He said that for the Muslims, HIV screenings were compulsory as part of the premarital course while the […]
Testing HIV positive doesn’t stop couples getting married
KOTA BARU, 19 Dec 2008: Despite the risks involved, the majority of those testing positive for HIV in Kelantan this year are getting hitched. State health department director Dr Lila P Mohamed Meeran said 38 people intending to get married had tested positive after undergoing HIV tests. “Of this number, 30 have decided to proceed […]
Mandatory testing flawed
By Shanon Shah1,000 crosses put up by World Concern, USA, in support of World AIDS Day (© Andrew Conn / sxc.hu) STARTING from 2009, Muslim couples intending to marry must undergo mandatory screening for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). We don’t know how this became official, but it now is, with the cabinet’s approval. Deputy Prime Minister […]
Task force to tackle women HIV epidemic
PETALING JAYA, 16 Dec 2008: The Health Ministry has set up a task force to study and draw up plans to tackle the HIV epidemic among women in the country. Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the task force would focus on heterosexual HIV infection besides studying the mechanism and strategies recommended by the World […]
M’sia should adopt Iran’s HIV prevention methods
KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Dec 2008: Malaysia should adopt the HIV prevention methods of Iran as they have been acknowledged to be successful by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Noriah Kasnon said Iran had managed to overcome one of the biggest hurdles in HIV prevention in a Muslim country […]
Rising HIV infection among housewives
By Ng Boon HooiPETALING JAYA, 18 Nov 2008: Although the spread of HIV in Malaysia has largely been among injecting drug users, there is growing concern that heterosexual transmission is on the rise. Most vulnerable to this are housewives. According to data by the Ministry of Health, the number of new reported HIV cases among housewives was 13 […]