M'SIA TO STUDY MANDATORY HIV SCREENING FOR NON-MUSLIMS

PEKAN (Malaysia), Dec 20 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the Malaysian 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 non-Muslims were not required to undergo any
premarital course.

"So if the HIV screening is to be made compulsory (for the non-Muslims), we
don't know whether this can be enforced," he said when asked whether non-Muslim
couples will be required to undergo HIV screening which will be made compulsory
for the Muslims from next year.

He said the government also had to be get feedbacks from the community
especially the non-Muslim couples intending to get married if the requirement
was to be imposed on them.

"We don't know their reaction to this proposal," he told reporters.


Najib said that presently, there were no legal provisions which make
it
compulsory for non-Muslim couples to undergo HIV screening and normally they
went for the test voluntarily.

"If you want to make it compulsory, there have to be some legal
provisions.

"There is no legal provision yet and it is always considered as
voluntary
but if you look at it from the society's point of view as well as the point of
view from the individuals concerned especially the would-be-spouses, it would be
to their interest as well to know whether their would-be-husbands, usually the
husbands, are free from HIV or not.

"So at the moment I think for the non-Muslims, we should go on the basis of
encouraging them on voluntary basis to subject themselves to be tested and
screened for HIV," he said.