Click to play videoMumbai: Maharashtra may just become the first state to make pre-marital HIV testing compulsory.
A high-level State government committee has recommended that pre-marital HIV test should be made mandatory. The committee headed by State Health Minister Vimal Mundada, was formed late last year after a PIL was filed in the Bombay High Court asking for such a test.
The proposal could be a first if it becomes a legislation, but it is expected to face stiff opposition.
The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines states that mandatory HIV test should not be a precondition for employment or providing healthcare, and in the case of marriage, a test can be carried out only if a partner insists on it.
"It’s not a rational measure,” NACO Director S Sureshkumar condemned it, and called it a “futile exercise".
With the HIV-positive status also comes a tag of social stigma.
However, Maharashtra is home to over 50 lakh HIV-infected people, making it the second state in the country.
The State health ministry is not willing to take any chances, and so before tabling the proposal in the State Cabinet, the government wants to garner a larger public mandate to back it.
"We will involve NGOs, get views from people between 15-25 years and see what they say,” explained state Health Minister, Vimal Mundada.
Maharashtra's bold initiative could prove to be a shot in the arm for other States such as Andhra Pradesh and Goa who also mooted similar legislations earlier. But in the face of stringent opposition from different sections of society, the road to implementation may not be easy.
With additional inputs from Parikshit Luthra
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