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"Blood crime"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(30/06/06)
PUTRAJAYA: Blood donors who are HIV positive will be committing a crime if
they do not report their condition under an upcoming revised law.
They will be liable to a jail term when the Prevention and Control of
Infectious Disease Act 1988 is amended, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Tun Razak said.
“The Act needs to be amended for stricter enforcement because there are
people with HIV who still donate blood,” he noted.
“They know they have HIV but they falsify the information.”
The Government wants to make it a crime because their act could result in
other people’s deaths, Najib told reporters after chairing the first Cabinet
committee on AIDS here yesterday. Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek was
present.
Asked by reporters about the planned legislation, Dr Chua said there was a
need to amend the current Act so that those who donate tainted blood could
be fined or put in jail.
“It will be a criminal offence. Mandatory prison is already being
implemented in many countries. We are looking into it,” he said.
Najib said the number of HIV/AIDS cases was increasing at an alarming rate,
and there must be a concerted effort to stop the disease from spreading
faster.
He said the Health Ministry had estimated that some 300,000 people would be
infected by 2015.
“It is scary,” Najib said, adding that some 6,000 HIV/AIDS cases are
reported annually.
He said 70% are addicts, and the number of women infected is also on the
increase. In 1990 women made up 1.2% of those infected but last year it
increased to 12%.
Najib said the Cabinet committee agreed that lectures would be conducted in
programmes like the national service, and all Muslims couples must go for
HIV tests before getting married.
On the methadone therapy for drug addicts, Najib said the pioneer project
involving 1,200 addicts had proven to be a success with 90% becoming free
from addiction.
Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen welcomed the proposal to impose stern
action on those who were HIV positive but continued to donate blood, calling
such donations a “very dangerous and wicked act.”
At a separate function, Najib said Malays must undergo a paradigm shift if
the country were to achieve Vision 2020 and for them to become “glocal.”
“Malays must be brave in facing challenges and be willing to do anything to
succeed at the international level,” he said at the launch of the Pencinta (Persatuan
Warga Cinta Negara Malaysia) education and scholarship fund.
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