Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986

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‘Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers’

By Kong Book Chin

More carriers of the Aids virus are likely to be uncovered in Singapore through the Health Ministry's screening programme, a senior doctor has said.

Dr Tulip Tan, the Medical Director of Middle Road Hospital, said this when she recently presented a paper on the control of sexually-transmitted diseases at a World Health Organization (WHO) seminar, now on at Novotel Orchid Inn.

The Health Ministry expects to conduct 60,000 to 70,000 screening tests a year, a target it considers adequate for Singapore.

A ministry spokesman said there was still no case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome here. There were still five carriers of the Aids virus here, the spokesman said. All five are homosexuals and their conditions are being monitored by Middle Road Hospital.

Ensures safe blood supply

The ministry has three screening programmes - for the public, blood donors and high-risk groups such as prostitutes and homosexuals.

Screening tests are available at five polyclinics - Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bukit Merah, Clementi and Kelantan Road. The fee per test is $30 for citizens and permanent resident and $36 for others.

Donor blood obtained by the Blood Bank is also screened before use. Since August last year, 28,500 units of blood have been screened.

Sex with infected partners, contaminated blood and blood products and intravenous drug abuse are major means of Aids transmission. This has been the experience of countries such as the United States, where Aids is a major problem.

High-risk groups such as prostitutes and homosexuals are screened at the Middle Road Hospital.

Should initial tests prove positive, another test called the Western Blot test is used to double-check. These tests are done at the Pathology Department.

More than 100 Western Blot tests had been done since late last year, said Dr Jimmy Sng Ewe Hui, Head of the Pathology Department. The department expects to carry out 700 to 800 Western Blot tests a year.

Further medical tests were needed before doctors could tell for sure whether a person was either a carrier or had Aids, an Aids Advisory Committee member said.

Dr Chew Chin Hin, the ministry's Deputy Director of Medical Services (Hospitals), said when he opened the seminar on Monday that Aids had added a "fearsome dimension" to the problem of sexually-transmitted diseases.

Aids is fatal because it makes the body ultimately defenceless against infections and complications.

The closed-door regional seminar, which attracted 20 participants from 18 countries, together with experts from Switzerland, Australia, Japan and the US, ends on Saturday.

=See also=
 * HIV/AIDS in Singapore
 * Archive of "Three in S’pore found with Aids-linked virus", The Straits Times, 10 April 1985
 * Archive of "Aids virus: Doctor who 'found it'", The Sunday Times, 14 April 1985
 * Archive of "Man with Aids related virus in hospital", The Straits Times, 21 July 1985
 * Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986
 * Archive of "Special lab to do Aids tests soon", The Straits Times, 18 May 1985
 * Archive of "Aids claims first victim here", The Straits Times, 11 April 1987
 * Archive of "Fear of Aids pushes up condom sales", The Straits Times, 19 April 1987
 * Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987
 * HIV/AIDS in Singapore's LGBT community
 * Paddy Chew
 * Avin Tan
 * Ajmal Khan
 * Calvin Tan
 * Adrian Tyler

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=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.