Goa govt likely to make HIV Test mandatory before marriage

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Panaji: Vishwajit Rane, Goa Health Minister said the state government is planning to make the HIV test mandatory for couples before registration of marriage on Monday. The government intends to bring in a legislation for this, he added. "The plan is to make the HIV test mandatory for couples before registration of marriage in Goa," he said. "The Goa law department is vetting the proposal to make the test compulsory in the coastal state. Once the legislation is cleared by the law department, we can introduce it in the state Assembly during the upcoming monsoon session," Rane said.

In 2006, the then Congress-led state government proposed similar legislation which met with opposition from several quarters. Every year, 85,000 to one lakh new cases of HIV surface in India. Quality and safety concerns are a huge cause of worry since multiple cases of HIV are detected due to transfusion of HIV-infected blood. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), in an RTI, stated that around 1,342 people across India have contracted the infection due to blood transfusion in 2018-19, giving rise to serious safety issues. Over 7,218, across the country, have contracted HIV infection through blood and its products since 2014-15. Uttar Pradesh in 2018-19, topped the chart with 241 cases, followed by West Bengal with 176 cases and Delhi with 172 cases.

With inputs from PTI

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