(AFP) - The imposition of mandatory pre-marital HIV tests on Muslim couples in Johor was a big setback in the war against Aids, health experts and activists said today.

Johor state government on November 13 implemented an Islamic religious decree, or fatwa, requiring Muslim couples to test for HIV, the virus which causes Aids, to prevent it from being passed on to children.

Under the Johor state fatwa couples must be tested in state hospitals three months before marriage. If a test shows that a prospective bride or groom has HIV/Aids, they can, however, still go ahead with their wedding.

Marina Mahathir, president of the Malaysian AIDS Council, said Johor's move was inconsistent with Malaysia's participation in international efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination against HIV/Aids patients.

Marina, the daughter of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, told a press conference that compulsory tests could also prevent couples from buying life insurance even if they tested negative.

Focused approach

U H Susantha de Silva, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative for Malaysia, said Johor's move appeared to be a "quick fix" but was not ethically justified and had a number of drawbacks such as possible false results which would be traumatic for couples and high costs for the state.

"Malaysia is not a high prevalence country for HIV/Aids. WHO recommend a very focused approach ... what should be done now is to concentrate on targetted groups such as sex workers and drug users," he said.

As of April, 40,049 people in Malaysia were confirmed HIV-infected with nearly 5,000 new cases detected each year, official data showed. Johor accounted for about 20 percent of new cases detected annually.

The sharing of needles during intravenous drug use accounted for 76 percent of the cases, followed by transmission through sex at 10.6 percent.

'Step backwards'

Christopher Lee, the AIDS committee chairman in the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), called Johor's move a "big step backwards" in HIV/Aids prevention.

He said there was a window period of about three weeks to six months between infection and testing positive, which would defeat the purpose of the pre-marital tests.

Ivy Josiah, executive director of the Women's Aid Organisation, said the money spent by Johor on the tests should be directed towards educating society on safe sex and the disease.

"Aids is a disease of behaviour and we need to change attitudes ... (we cannot do this) through coercion," she said.

Several other states have also said they may follow Johor's ruling as the number of HIV patients was on the rise.