Goa reacts cautiously over compulsory
HIV test
Sandesh Prabhudesai
18 January 2002
Goa is planning to make HIV test compulsory
for the couple before registering marriage in the tourist
state.
State health minister Dr Suresh Amonkar assured
in this regard during the Assembly debate held on Thursday,
on the issue of rise in AIDS cases in the state.
Rather than welcoming it wholeheartedly,
reaction to the announcement is however mixed in nature. If
implemented, Goa will perhaps be the first state in the country
to take such a bold step.
A suggestion in this regard actually came
from speaker Pratapsing Rane, the former chief minister belonging
to the Congress. Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister Manohar
Parrikar instantly supported it while Nationalist Congress
Party leader Dr Wilfred de Souza, another former chief minister,
also backed it.
Though it appeared that the whole House of
40 legislators might unanimously pass such legislation, people
actually working among the victims having HIV positive and
AIDS patients are reacting very cautiously.
"I agree with it in principle, but we
are also bound by guidelines of the National AIDS Control
Organisation which talks about secrecy of the matter",
points out Prof. Bhaskar Nayak, principal of a government
college, who also heads NSS section of students at state level.
Its effective implementation however seems
to be not the matter of worry here, since every Goan goes
for marriage registration due to the common civil code being
practised in the former Portuguese colony. It provides for
equal property rights for all the family members, including
women.
Dr de Souza, the surgeon-turned politician,
pointed out during the House debate that quite a few countries
in the world have made such a test mandatory before marriage
registration. But Dr Vithal Rege, his professional colleague
and a skin specialist, feels otherwise.
"Even in principle, I do not agree with
it. It should be more of a voluntary nature rather than making
a compulsion", he states, adding that the law would not
permit to acquire over private and secret matter of an individual.
On the other hand, the spread of AIDS is
becoming a matter of concern in the tourist state as the official
figures indicate rise of HIV positive cases, especially in
the towns where continuous tourist inflow is also witnessed.
Against total figure of 522 HIV positive
cases in 1988, it zoomed up to 801 last year, showing significant
rise in the port town of Vasco having a red light area as
well as talukas like Bardez, Tiswadi and Salcete, whose beaches
are popular all over the world.
Even the number of AIDS cases has increased
from 15 in 1988 to 48 in 2001. Some NGOs working in the field
however indicate that the actual number of HIV positive cases
itself should not be less than 15,000 in the tiny state alone.
Perhaps this is the quandary in which the
NGO like Positive People is also caught up, due to which they
are declining to comment with a firm opinion. "May be
it is a step forward in curbing the soaring figures, but the
need of the hour is to debate over all pros and cons of the
issue before arriving at final decision", states its
executive director Elizabeth Shivkumar.
While Dr Rege feels that the via media could
be that people having HIV positive not getting married, Prof.
Nayak feels such a step is more necessary rather than looking
into the horoscope of the couple. "It is a more scientific
approach, provided the secrecy is maintained", he feels.
But for NGOs like Positive People, who are
actually involved in day-to-day interaction with the AIDS
victims, it is an extremely sensitive issue. "No government
should take any unilateral step without debating it thoroughly
with all the concerned, including the actual victims",
suggests Shivkumar.
It is not known what approach the government
as well as members of the Goa Assembly will ultimately adopt
towards this ‘revolutionary’ suggestion, but it has definitely
sparked a debate that requires nation-wide reaction before
setting a trend in a democratic country like India.
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