NEWS: Activists want HIV/AIDS Bill changed

Activists want HIV/AIDS Bill changed

Sunday, 17th May, 2009 from NEW VISION

HUMAN rights activists have called for the review of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Bill. The activists said the Bill did not recognise the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS, which the Government says is intended to curb the high prevalence rate. If passed, persons found guilty of intentional transmission of the virus face up to two years imprisonment. Prof. Oloka Onyango, the director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre, Makerere University, on Friday said it was important for the Government to consider the link between the law and human rights in the fight against AIDS. Onyango was speaking at the closure of a workshop on law, human rights and HIV/AIDS at Makerere University. The workshop was attended by lawyers, activists and other persons involved in HIV/AIDS advocacy from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. “The Bill criminalises HIV transmission, yet only about 10% of the population knows their status. If the majority is unaware of their status, how can you criminalise transmission?” Onyango asked. He said the activists would write to Parliament to incorporate human rights in the Bill. Onyango said the move would enable Parliament make changes to the Bill before it is passed into law. State Attorney Ayebare Tumwebaze noted that it was difficult to prove whether the offender was aware of his or her status before transmission. He said doctors and health workers risked breaching confidentiality, if they were required to reveal the offender’s status. “Besides, how do you prove who transmitted to whom? These relationships take place in secret,” he said. The Open Society Initiative for East Africa health and rights programme officer, Christine Munduru, said the Bill should have been discussed by various people before it reached Parliament. She said if passed, it would victimise mothers because they would be blamed for intentionally infecting their children.