|
"Marina slams ministry’s move"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(19/12/05)
THE Health Ministry’s decision to implement a harm reduction programme to
fight the spread of HIV/AIDS should have been made public only after it was
proven to be successful, said outgoing Malaysian AIDS Council president
Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.
In a frank interview with Mingguan Malaysia, she said there was actually no
need to announce the programme – which will see the free distribution of
needles and condoms to addicts.
“I was told that the minister wanted to 'test the market’. But we cannot
test a market which doesn’t really understand the situation.
“We should have carried out the programme quietly while educating society on
the matter at the same time,” she said.
Marina said the harm reduction programme should begin at once and on a
larger scale, noting that it would not reach those most at risk on time if
it were first introduced as a pilot project.
In announcing the programme in September, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi
Lek had said the pilot project would start next month. Some religious
leaders have since claimed that the move would condone free sex and
encourage drug abuse.
Harian Metro continued to highlight the “sex parties” being held on certain
beaches on New Year’s Eve, which it said had been going on for the past
three years.
The paper even interviewed a “participant” of one such party, named Faiz,
who claimed that he had heard of people swapping partners and a man who had
slept with up to 10 women in one night.
 Back to
News Page
|
