Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - December 5, 2004
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said Singapore planned to seek public feedback on the pre-marital HIV tests in the wealthy, tightly controlled city-state, where the number of new HIV infections reached a record high this year.
"If you ask me as a parent, I think there is no harm. I have three girls and you do not know what their boyfriends will be like," Khaw was quoted by The Straits Times as telling local reporters on Saturday.
"I think we are more likely to succeed if we treat this as a purely public health problem, so let's take away the morality and religion from all this," he said.
Although the Southeast Asian island has one of Asia's lowest levels of HIV infection, it is tightening defences after data from health workers showed women and girls in Asia increasingly at risk of becoming infected with the deadly disease.
Khaw said Singapore was at the beginning of a second wave in the development of HIV, where more women are becoming infected. Singapore media reports have recently focused on the problem of men visiting prostitutes while travelling in Asia.
The number of new infections are already at a record high this year with 257 cases reported in the first 10 months of 2004, topping the 242 new cases reported for all of 2003.
Health officials say Singapore, a tiny island of 4.2 million people, could face 1,000 new cases a year by 2010 according to current trends. To date, Singapore has recorded a total of 2,332 HIV infections, of whom 874 have died.
Activists say AIDS awareness efforts are undermined in Singapore by antiquated laws that make gay sex illegal between men.
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