 |
|
"The
National Fatwa Council is studying (the program) according to
Islamic jurisprudence," Najib said.
|
IPOH,
Malaysia, June 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The
Malaysian government will make a final decision on the implementation
of a controversial anti- HIV program after a ruling from the country's
National Fatwa Council, reported Bernama news agency.
"The
National Fatwa Council is studying (the program) according to Islamic
jurisprudence...give the National Fatwa Council a chance to come up
with an official fatwa," Deputy Premier Najib Tun Razak told the
annual general assembly of the National Association Against Drug Abuse
(Pemadam) Saturday, June 25.
Facing
a threat of a possible epidemic, Malaysia is mulling the
implementation of a pioneer program to give needles, condoms and
methadone substitution drugs to addicts in a move to reduce the spread
of HIV/AIDS.
The
government had earlier decided to implement the pioneer program of the
Health Ministry beginning October this year because it considered the
HIV/AIDS scourge in this country had reached the "emergency"
level.
However,
the program was disputed by various quarters especially religious
leaders and Pemadam who feared that giving the methadone would not
help efforts at eliminating drug addiction.
This
prompted the government to seek a ruling from the National Fatwa
Council on the program compatibility with Islamic Shari`ah.
Critical
Stage
The
problem of HIV infection in the country had now become a serious
threat and had reached a critical stage which could lead to an
emergency situation because the spread was going on an upward trend,
Najib said.
"The
Malaysian graph is rising whereas countries such as Australia, whose
population equals that of Malaysia, is registering a decline...now
64,000 Malaysians are infected with HIV, if this trend continues in
the next two or three years, between 200,000 and 300,000 people may be
infected."
He
stressed that the treatment using methadone, for example, was found to
be successful in other countries including Muslim nations such as Iran
which had succeeded in curbing the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.
Such
an approach, the deputy premier said, had been recommended by the
United Nations as a new method in addressing the problems of drug
addiction and HIV virus.
Najib said he had been told by a medical practitioner that this
approach had a success rate of 80 percent in rehabilitating addicts
whereas the success rate of the Drug Rehabilitation Centers was only
between 10 and 15 percent.
The
World Health Organization has recently warned that Malaysia is at the
initial stage of an HIV outbreak.
Everyone's
Fight
 |
|
Marina
said Muslim religious leaders are yearning for more knowledge on
HIV/AIDS.
|
Meanwhile,
Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) president Marina Mahathir said a
multi-sectoral approach is needed to fight the disease with the rising
numbers of cases, the Malay Mail reported on Saturday.
“Malaysia
would not be on the brink of a HIV/AIDS epidemic if we had paid more
attention to the early warning signs. Instead, a reluctance to
confront the problem,” she said.
The
former prime minister's daughter said the WHO's warning is not the
first from the world body which had issued a similar caution a few
years ago.
Its
recent fear, however, was prompted by findings that 15,000 children in
Malaysia had been orphaned by AIDS.
Sixteen
years after HIV was first detected in Malaysia, the situation
domestically has seen little improvement.
Official
figures state that about 65,000 people have been diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS. Of this, 9,444 have AIDS and 7,195 have since died.
“Obviously,
the rising numbers indicate that the government has not done
enough,” Marina said.
She
added that the public’s lack of understanding about HIV/AIDS was
also responsible for many misconceptions about the disease.
Marina,
however, fears that the WHO warning might result in an adverse
reaction from the people.
“My
greatest fear is that people will panic and demand the wrong sort of
programs, such as isolation of people living with HIV/AIDS.
“We
need people to be calm and approach the situation based on scientific
evidence of what works and what doesn’t.”
She
underlined that Malaysia needs to “adapt proven prevention programs
to our circumstances”.
Marina
pointed out that during MAC’s nationwide training of Muslim
religious leaders, it was found that at the grass root level, the
leaders yearned for more knowledge on HIV/AIDS.
“These
leaders are faced with the issue but without proper knowledge, they do
not know how to help and feel helpless. They were happy when we
conducted the workshops and asked for more.”
Also
read:
Islamic
Workable Measures to Overcome AIDS
How
to Deal with AIDS Victims
HIV
Test Before Marriage: Necessary?
Donating
Sadaqah for AIDS Patients
