Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - November 2, 2008
Anne Mugisa
During a workshop to review the proposed law, which is still with the Uganda Law Review Commission (ULRC), Beatrice Were said the demand by places of worship was discriminatory and increases stigma. The meeting was held in Kampala on Wednesday.
Were said the issue of testing for HIV before marriage should be left to the couple and not a coercion by the religious bodies.
The Bill will be taken to Parliament as a Private Members Bill, Jane Alisemera, a member of the parliamentary HIV/AIDS committee, said.
Alisemera said the Government may take over the Bill after the private members have taken it to Parliament.
Alisemera said they brought the Bill because there had been an outcry for a law to address HIV/AIDS issues, including deliberate transmission.
She castigated the people opposed to the law, who cite criminalisation of those wilfully and intentionally spreading the disease. She said the provision was only meant to punish those who intentionally infect others.
The activists also said the draftsmen and legislators should be careful when allowing doctors to disclose the HIV status of a person to his/her spouse.
They said this was likely to escalate violence, because irrespective of who brought the virus home, women are always blamed and punished as a result.
They said the responsibility to disclose the sero status to a spouse should be left to the one who finds out the infection first.
Were said vulnerable groups like those caught up in war zones should also be specifically catered for in the law. She said domestic violence should also be addressed because it has been found a major driver of infections.
Studies have shown that infection rates are highest among married groups, she said.
The activists complained that some hospitals were careless and sometimes discriminate against pregnant women they find infected with the virus. They cited hospitals which issue the said women with files of a distinct colour from the one generally given to other expectant mothers.
The activists said the law should provide for their insurance, compensation and treatment of volunteers in HIV vaccine trials.
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