The workshop to discuss the HIV/Aids Preventive Measures Bill showed that stakeholders need more clarifications before agreeing to the present draft. The ministry of Health and the attorney general’s office had invited all those involved to sound out their reactions to the present draft.

Some people present at the workshop could not agree on the necessity of forcing people to do the test. If Dr Ben Veeraragoo thinks that the tests should be obligatory for pregnant women and foreign workers, the representatives of Pils do not share his opinion. They believe this would make those infected with the virus feel even more rejected from society and they would rather recommend “pre-marital counselling on HIV/Aids and other sexually transmissible diseases”.

Likewise, the spokesperson for Pils, Nicolas Ritter, got really upset when he heard the head of Action Familiale advocate that deliberate contamination be subject to sentencing in the new law. According to him, sentence against deliberate contamination is already present in the law and including it in the HIV/Aids Preventive Measures Bill would only lead to people feeling excluded.

The needle exchange programme was also the subject of much discussion, as stakeholders wonder whether the system chosen is the best way of preventing people from using contaminated syringes.

All these discussions helped to point at the fact that the attorney general may have to take his time. The bill has already been subject to a few changes since its first draft but he will have to keep his ears open to make sure the bill helps those who really need it.