Lawmakers seek compulsory HIV test for intending couples

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