In March 2024, a bill was put forward to amend criminal laws relevant to the protection of children and youth. A provision was added to this bill that sought to amend Section 78 of the criminal code which criminalised the ‘deliberate infection’ of another person with a sexually transmitted disease other than HIV. The amendment would have included HIV within its scope.
Alarmed by the proposed change which would have re-criminalised HIV exposure or transmission, and to support the local efforts, the HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE coalition, along with the Health Law and Policy Consortium and Sonke Gender Justice released a civil society statement criticising the proposal.