Singapore informs spouses of HIV-positive partners
Tue Dec 6, 2005
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's Health Ministry has started informing spouses of HIV-positive patients directly about their partners' disease in order to curb the spread of AIDS, the ministry said.
Letters had been hand-delivered to 41 women since July informing them that their husbands were HIV-positive, the ministry quoted Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan as saying in a speech made on Monday.
A ministry official declined to elaborate on Tuesday, referring to the ministry's Web site for more details.
"Previously, some wives were not aware of their spouse's HIV status and so they were at risk of the HIV infection. Since July this year, we have informed the wife when the infected husband had not informed her of his positive HIV status," Sadasivan said, according to a text of his speech posted on the Web site.
"Marriage and the women's own fidelity are not enough to protect them against HIV infection. Most have been infected despite staying faithful to their partners," he added.
The letters advise spouses to get screened for HIV and give them information about counseling services available at the Communicable Disease Center.
The ministry said two of the women who received the notifications had since tested positive for the virus.
In July the Singapore government scrapped a law which required the patient's consent to inform their spouse. The move to sanction breaching patient confidentiality was part of a raft of measures introduced to fight the spread of AIDS.
Although the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state has one of Asia's lowest levels of HIV infection, it has said it is tightening defenses due to an increase in cases, notably among gays and among heterosexual men who have casual sex.
Singapore has recorded a total of 2,584 HIV infections to date, of whom 954 have died, 631 have full-blown AIDS and 999 show no symptoms.
>From January to October this year, 198 people were diagnosed with HIV, less
than 10 percent of them women, the ministry said.
In July, the ministry introduced HIV testing as part of the antenatal screening routine for pregnant women.
A pilot project to distribute HIV self-test kits at locations where gays socialize would soon be launched, Sadasivan said.
Controversial legislative measures, such as compulsory HIV testing for couples about to marry and criminalising the act of spreading the HIV virus with or without intent, have also been considered but have not been implemented.
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