“The blood examination will reveal if the bride and groom have been afflicted with any deadly disease and it is only way to arrest their spread among the next generation, ” Loknath Mishra, director of Aruna, an NGO working to tackle AIDS and spread awareness about the deadly disease.
The blood test should made mandatory to check increasing incidence of AIDS in the state, said Sudhir Sabat, another activist.
The number of persons who tested positive for HIV in Orissa was 13,039 in April. Of them 1085 persons have been diagnosed as AIDS patients, while 868 have died of the disease, official sources said.
“Orissa will be the second state in the counrty after Kerala if the state government makes blood test of the bride and groom mandatory before marriage, ” Mishra said.
“It will not only enable a happy married life for the couple but also help in making the society AIDS-free,” Sanjeet Patnaik, secretary of Sova, a Koraput-based NGO said.
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Source: The Hindu
