The
Bauchi State House of Assembly is working on a bill that will make it mandatory
for intending couples to undergo HIV screening.
The
News Agency of Nigeria reported on Monday that the bill, sponsored by Ilyasu Zwall, representing Lere/Bula
Constituency, had already gone through first and Second reading.
He
said that the bill, when passed, would require intending couples to be tested
for HIV in any government recognised hospital “at a time not earlier than one
week to the day of the wedding.” It also made it mandatory for individuals to
conduct tests when marrying additional wives.
According
to the lawmaker, the enactment of the law is long over-due considering the
number of lives being lost as a result of marriages contracted without checking
the HIV status of couples.
“My
experience, when I was the Chairman of NLC in Bauchi, compelled me into
sponsoring the bill. Some civil servants that discovered that they were HIV
positive confided in me that they got infected through their spouses, having
failed to carry out pre-marriage HIV test.
There
was this pathetic case of a man with three wives, who added a fourth one
without carrying out the test. It turned out that the fourth wife was HIV
positive and by the time the discovery was made, it was too late as the man had
contacted the virus and spread same to the other three wives.”
“As
I am talking to you now, both the husband and the four wives have died, leaving
orphans behind for relations to carter for. When I became a lawmaker, I thought
one of the ways to address the problem is to initiate a Bill for compulsory HIV
screening before marriage, which is exactly what I did,” he said.
The
lawmaker explained that he spent six months consulting with stakeholders, such
as religious and community leaders, health experts and state agencies dealing
with HIV and AIDS, before drafting the bill.
“I
am happy that not even a single stakeholder opposed the idea. They all
supported and gave me inputs. As I am talking to you now, the Bill has passed
the First and Second Reading. What is left is the Third.”
Source: Punch
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