Materia Medica Malaysiana

Forced HIV test can be bad

Forcing couples to take pre-marriage HIV/AIDS tests might create a false sense of security should the results turn out negative, said an AIDS awareness group.
Instead, Community AIDS Service Penang Dr Ismail Baba said the couples should be encouraged to undergo the tests themselves and those tested positive be given counselling.
He said there was the possibility that the test results could turn out negative during the “window period”.
“Although the result is negative, the infected person is still able to pass on the virus to his or her partner,” he said.
Dr Ismail was responding to reports quoting Perlis Regent Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail as saying that the Perlis religious council should compel all Muslims planning marriage to take the HIV test to combat the rise of HIV/AIDS.
Puteri Umno chief Noraini Ahmad had said that the proposal should have been implemented when it was first suggested several years ago to make sure that there were fewer cases of children being born with HIV/AIDS.
Dr Ismail said there were no stopping the couples from getting married in another state or country.
He said policy-makers should have the right information on HIV/AIDS before such laws were implemented.
“If the virus is passed to a woman, she has a 30% chance of infecting her baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.
“This chance of transmitting the virus to the baby could be further reduced to 15% if the mother is treated with medication,” he said.
He said people should also have easy access to HIV testing, through NGOs.
“The test should be easily accessible to the people to encourage them to take the tests,” he said.