KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) will discuss with the relevant ministries on making it mandatory for non-Muslim couples who intend to tie the knot to undergo HIV testing.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said since non-Muslim marriages follow civil law and carrying out the (HIV) test would involve costs, discussions with the Home Ministry and the Finance Minister were necessary to implement such measures.
She said that for now, there is no compulsory provision for non-Muslim couples to get tested for HIV before getting married.
“In principle we support (compulsory HIV testing) but it involves costs and provisions, we do agree and we will work on getting it,” she said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2019 for her ministry at the Dewan Negara yesterday.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said extending the pre-marital course to non-Muslim couples, was still being discussed with the relevant parties.
She said so far, the outcome of the discussion with members of the ‘interfaith council’ had been good and they welcomed the proposal, however some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were still not in agreement in implementing it in a uniform manner covering the various races and religions.
“This effort is still being carried out by the ministry through LPPKN (National Population and Family Development Board) through a pioneer proposal in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
The initial plan was to study the course content, duration from two days to only half a day and the training given to trainers from eligible NGOs,” said Dr Wan Azizah.
Meanwhile, commenting on the disclosure of sexual crime data developed by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Dr Wan Azizah said the data was not displayed openly as there were concerns that it could be manipulated by irresponsible parties. — Bernama