Karnataka urges Federal Government to make HIV/AIDS test mandatory before marriage

Having lost a total of 849 people so far to the dreaded AIDS virus, Karnataka has urged the Federal Government to enact a law mandating brides and bridegrooms to undergo a HIV/AIDS test before marriage.

Karnataka’s Health Minister R Ashok told reporters that the State’s Health Department has written a letter to the Federal Government on March 14 proposing this measure to check the menace of AIDS.

With recent findings reporting more than 70,000 cases of HIV/AIDS from across the State, Ashok said the proposal, if implemented, would go a long way towards effective AIDS prevention.

Even if the Federal Government fails to do so, Ashok said the State Government would implement the proposal on its own.

According to Karnataka’s Health Minister, marriages without the proposed screening constituted one of the main reasons for the dreaded disease spreading fast in the State. “There is a trend where in bachelors working in metros and bigger cities get married to girls from small towns or villages. In several cases, the bridegroom could be HIV carrier or an AIDS victim, leading to a situation in which the wife and the couple’s children too fall prey to the disease”, he said.

Karnataka Government’s letter to the Federal Government comes in the wake of Federal Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss’ critical remarks against the State Government’s “poor performance” in AIDS control.

In a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Ramadoss took serious exception to the Karnataka Government’s failure to utilize Federal funds meant for various AIDS prevention programmes.

“I would like to bring to your notice the virtual collapse in functioning of Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society… Karnataka is one of the six high-prevalence states. There is considerable concern at the poor performance of Karnataka in the control of the spread of HIV infection”, Ramadoss said in the letter.

The letter further said : “It is clear that no preventive work is being done. Unlike Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka is not able to stabilize the epidemic. If the current state of affairs continues, we apprehend that the epidemic may get into the general population and make it very difficult and also more expensive to control”, Ramadoss said.