Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Friday, 2 November, 2001
The government is planning to introduce a bill in parliament to enact the new piece of legislation, one of the first of its kind anywhere in Africa.
Information Minister Vernon Mwaanga told the BBC the new law was part of a "long and sustained campaign to warn people about the dangers of HIV/Aids".
Controversially, another bill is also under discussion that would force presidential candidates to submit to an Aids test ahead of the next elections.
President Frederick Chiluba has not set a date for presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections, but the legal deadline is the end of the year.
Formal legislation
Mr Mwaanga said that Aids advisory councils around the country had evidence that some people with HIV were spreading the disease deliberately.
He said that "punitive measures" were required in response.
"This really can lead to the wiping out of the whole nation," he said.
But according to the Reuters news agency, Mr Mwaanga has also said the proposed bill requiring presidential candidates to be tested was unlikely.
"This has many people deeply uncomfortable," Reuters quoted a minister as saying.
'Fully fit'
On Wednesday, the ruling MMD party candidate Levy Patrick Mwanawasa said he was willing to be publicly tested and urged other hopefuls to do likewise.
"This will help, both in terms of public awareness as well as confirming to Zambians the man they are about to pick as their next leader is fully fit," he told Reuters.
The bill was due for its first reading in parliament on Friday.
But opposition Heritage Party presidential candidate Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda said the bill was discriminatory and an infringement of human rights.
"As much as it is proper to ensure that all presidential candidates are in a healthy state, the timing of this bill is rather suspicious," he told The Post newspaper.
"Their choice of HIV/Aids for legislation is discriminatory because there are other equally serious diseases such as prostrate cancer and obesity which may lead to sudden heart attack," he said.
General Miyanda said such legislation would harm the battle against the stigmatisation of HIV/Aids, adding parliament should be more concerned with impeaching President Chiluba.
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