Private bill to be introduced

Press, 30 May 1987, Page 3

Private bill to be introduced

PA Invercargill A bill seeking to make the A.I.D.S. virus a notifiable disease will come before Parliament next week.

The member of Parliament for Invercargill, Mr Norman Jones, plans to give notice of motion of his private member’s bill on Wednesday.

The human immunodeficiency virus (H.1.V.) is not itself a notifiable disease under the Health Act, but full-blown A.I.D.S. has been since 1983.

Although people who catch the virus may never get A.I.D.S. and can stay healthy for long periods, they could still pass the infection on to others, Mr Jones said yesterday. “They should be monitored and isolated,” he said.

The community had a right to be protected against the killer disease, he said.

Mr Jones has already told his caucus colleagues that he will present the bill whether he has their support or not. He was hopeful that the bill would reach the select committee stage, where doctors, A.I.D.S. clinic representatives, homosexuals and all interested groups would have the chance to make submissions. There needed to be more discussion because “people are so ignorant about what is going on in this field,” he said.