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"Govt clinics offer ‘secret’ HIV test"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(10/12/05)
THE fear of being shunned by society is discouraging people from undergoing
HIV test.
However, 11 government-run health clinics in the district of Larut Matang
and Selama are offering such test without registration.
The result of the HIV rapid test can be known within 10 minutes.
“Under our anonymous programme, those who want to keep their identity secret
need not register themselves, and anyone can turn up at any of the
government health clinics in the district to undergo the HIV test,” said
medical laboratory technologist P.V. Subramaniam who was manning a booth at
a Youth without AIDS camp held in conjunction with the World AIDS Day in
Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, recently.
However, Subramaniam said further tests were needed in order to confirm that
the person was having HIV.
“Once tests confirm the person as HIV positive, we will duly inform the
person but his or her identity will not be known since it was done via the
anonymous programme,” he said.
He added that the HIV rapid test was first introduced in the district in
1996 and had continued to date.
Earlier, when opening the gathering participated by about 250 youths
comprising mostly Red Crescent Society members, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd
Tajol Rosli Ghazali said the spread of HIV via sexual contact had increased
over the years.
In his speech read out by state exco member Datuk Ho Cheng Wang, Tajol Rosli
said 13 expectant mothers were identified as HIV positive carriers last year
since compulsory HIV screening tests were introduced on them in 1998.
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