In the face of a rapidly worsening HIV/AIDS crisis, the question is Will Meghalaya government make a move to make HIV test before marriage be made compulsory? However, despite not giving a clear answer, Health Minister Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh indicated that the state will engage with legal experts, engage with the department and figure it out. Meghalaya is now contemplating a bold and controversial move—making HIV testing mandatory before marriage registration. The Minister said the idea, sparked by similar legislation in Goa, has found strong support among top officials and MLAs, who insist that the time for hesitation is over.
With over 3,432 confirmed HIV-positive cases in East Khasi Hills alone—double the figures from previous years—and a disturbing trend of patients not returning for follow-up treatment, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh minced no words during a high-level review meeting. The minister’s remarks came after a meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and attended by eight MLAs from East Khasi Hills. Though not all MLAs were present, Lyngdoh termed it a good start.
“The state of Goa has made HIV AIDS testing compulsory before any couple marriage, why shouldn’t Meghalaya? We have our own set of laws which are going to be good for the community at large. So we will now be looking at that because this is the first time that a group of MLAs have come forward to tell us, that you have to do it, we have no way out. So, we are now therefore at that stage where we will engage with legal experts, we will engage with the department and we will figure this out,” Lyngdoh said.
When asked if the government is coming up with legislation, the minister responded, “I cannot say for sure what or how a legislation of that nature will pan out, but Meghalaya is now mentally prepared and ready to take the monster by its neck and we are okay with it. At one point we never had this interaction. We never had this participation. Looks like 2006 to 2025 enough information has gone out. Now, we have to stop taking strong action.”
Of the 3,432 confirmed cases in East Khasi Hills, only 1,581 patients are undergoing treatment, while 681 have been lost to follow-up. “This is not a good trend because it is indicative of a very serious pandemic that can envelop our communities across the state. You will not believe that in the last few years there were 159 deaths due to loss of ART treatment,” Lyngdoh warned. “We have to make sure that everyone who has been tested comes into the system for necessary treatments.”
“So as of today, because not much screening is going on, like I told you, we are now going to be placing a policy before the Cabinet to review what are these steps that need to get taken so that we can get to know whether injecting drug use is also now a serious concern. Because as of today, it is predominantly only sexually transmitted,” she said.
She added, “HIV AIDS is actually not fatal but it can be treated like cancer, like TB, like any other disease. There is the treatment protocol in position and in place. Now, we just have to tell people that they have to come forward to test themselves. What is happening is that we are afraid that despite the fact that these numbers are huge, there could be more people in the communities around us who are not coming forward.”
Today’s meeting concluded with a strong resolution emphasizing the importance of a “mission-mode redressal” by the state government to tackle the crisis. “We will not share with the media the hotspots, because we believe that in a bid to ensure that stigmatisation does not occur, we will not isolate individual constituencies and numbers. But let me tell you, for East Khasi Hills, the numbers alone are very big,” Lyngdoh said.
She further stated, “We have also problems with Jaintia Hills but we will deal with the Jaintia numbers when we reach that stage with the MLAs and DCs of the Jaintia Hills. In Khasi Hills alone, these numbers have doubled to a huge number of 3,432 cases, which is doubling every year. We have to address this problem.”
She informed that a series of meetings will be held across districts including West Garo Hills under the leadership of the Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. “We will now sit in the department and we will immediately take the assistance of our bureaucrats and senior doctors at the DHS level and others including Meghalaya AIDS Control Society to guide us on what and how is the way forward.”
“The trend right now in the last five years is what is worrisome. So we will compare the last five years with 2006 and then you would see the difference,” she added.
Nationally, Meghalaya now ranks sixth in HIV prevalence—behind Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. “The Northeast scenario is alarming,” Lyngdoh said. “But like I said, different states have different indicators of spread.”
