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"HIV screening a must in Kelantan"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(30/12/05)
KOTA BARU: Beginning this Sunday, all couples intending to get married in
Kelantan must undergo HIV screening which, Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz
Nik Mat says, will save the family institution from being wrecked by AIDS.
“The move will also save innocent lives. It is very good, and Kelantan has
no problem enforcing it together with other states,” he told reporters after
launching the programme here yesterday.
In his speech earlier, Nik Aziz said 5,639 people tested positive for HIV in
Kelantan from 1986 to 2004, mostly drug addicts. Some were infected through
sex.
“It worries us when 64 housewives in Kelantan were found to be HIV positive
last year,” he said.
He told reporters later that the mandatory HIV screening would not rid some
people of perceptions that the state had failed to overcome the AIDS
problem.
“The problem occurs anywhere and what happens here is because we are located
next to Thailand,” he said.
Nik Aziz said it was impossible for the state government to stop its
citizens from visiting other countries and be exposed to the disease.
It was important for society to abide by the command of God to stay away
from committing sinful acts; and AIDS was actually a calamity brought upon
those who had disobeyed, he said.
However, he was confident that one day, a cure for AIDS would be discovered.
— Bernama
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