NAMIBIA: Criminalise HIV-positive people - MP

An opposition parliamentarian has called for legislation to make it criminal for HIV-positive Namibians to intentionally infect others, local newspaper The Namibian reported on Friday.

"A law must be crafted that prohibits and inhibits people who know their HIV status from infecting others. All I am saying is that a desperate situation calls for desperate action," the Congress of Democrats legislator, Linus Chata said.

However, a lawyer with Namibia's AIDS Law Unit has cautioned the government to "tread carefully" when considering new criminal laws surrounding "intentional HIV infection".

"The government must be carefully not to criminalise all HIV-positive people when implementing such a complicated law," AIDS Law Unit lawyer, Delme Cupido, told the UN news service PlusNews.

Meanwhile, the government has announced that it will begin a national HIV/AIDS treatment plan in three months.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Other,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]