A legal study of pre-marital HIV test and its application in Malaysia / Norhafizah Mahror, Nazirah Ahmad Tajuddin and Nurul Farrahuda Omar Bakhi

The infection of HIV has been increasing every year. Many measures had been taken to overcome this problem and to prevent the virus from spreading. The Johor religious department was aware on this issue and took steps to prevent this problem from getting serious. They were the first state which introduces the pre-marital HIV test. As we feel that this test should be implemented as a legal obligation in Malaysia, we conducted a research on this matter. "A Legal Study of pre-marital HIV test and Its Implication in Malaysia" is the title for this project paper. The scope of this study focuses on Muslim couples who are getting married. This paper analyses and evaluates the current position on the policies of pre-marital HIV test in several states. The procedures of getting married in State that require HIV testing are highlighted. The objectives of this research are to determine what is the legal basis for requiring the compulsory testing for states implementing the requirement for pre-marital HIV test, to examine the effectiveness of mandatory pre-marital HIV test in reducing the spread of ADDS in states which have made such tests compulsory, to examine the viability of making the requirement for pre-marital HIV test to be compulsory in Malaysia, to recommend that the mandatory requirement of pre-marital HIV tests be standardize throughout Malaysia and this test be offered to or required for non-Muslims and to propose a new law be implemented regarding the pre-marital HIV test. The approach adopted in this paper is based on a qualitative research and mainly library based.