Responding to UNAIDS critique of Goa government's move to make HIV test mandatory for marriage, the Goa government on Wednesday asserted that the Spirit of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 is to prevent discrimination against the protected persons in the public sphere.
"The act recognizes that the right of the protected persons is not inalienable and that in certain situations as given in Section 6 and Section 9 of the act an HIV test can be mandated. Moreover, a physician is by law permitted to disclose the HIV positive status of a person to their partner if he is satisfied that the partner is at risk of contracting the disease owing to non-disclosure by the affected person," said a release by the Health Ministry of the government.
"In this spirit, the Goa government wants to ensure that a person is not infected with HIV owing to ignorance or non-disclosure. The government will not collect the data on the HIV status of marriage certificate applicant. The government will only ensure that the partners conduct the tests and disclose the results to each other," the release added.
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