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"Government cannot carry
out anti-AIDS plan alone"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(16/06/05)
The
Health Ministry needs the support of the community and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) in its move to provide free condoms and syringes to
drug addicts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. Bernama quoted Deputy Health
Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad as saying that the ministry was
networking with support groups to implement the programme, which would
likely cost the Government about RM145mil. “The Government cannot implement
the programme on its own.
“We
need the help of the community and volunteers to help create awareness,” he
told reporters after opening a one-day seminar on Integrated Imaging in
Healthcare Institutions here yesterday. Dr Latiff also said the Government
was firm in its decision to carry out the programme despite criticisms from
certain quarters. “It has become a polemic issue and there has been a lot of
confusion because people are not aware how the disease is contracted and how
to prevent it.”
The
National Narcotic Agency would be directed to identify hotspots using an
“addict mapping” system, and private doctors would be involved in
distributing the free syringes and condoms. He said for a start, the
programme would be implemented in 10 localities.
In
Johor Baru, ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD quoted the National Fatwa Council chairman,
Datuk Dr Ismail Ibrahim, as saying that the council needed more details of
the plan to provide free condoms and syringes to drug addicts before it
could make a stand on it. “It is an issue which may have far-reaching
implications for Muslims.
“Nevertheless, we are open about it and if it is for the good of mankind,
there shouldn’t be any reason for the programme not to be implemented,” he
said at the end of a three-day conference here. Dr Ismail said the council
would have to be cautious in its stand on the matter as Muslims might
interpret its decisions in various ways. “If we say we support the free
condom plan without providing any indisputable reason, the Muslims would
accuse us of encouraging extra-marital relationships. “The same goes for
free syringes as we could be accused of encouraging drug abuse.”
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