A 27-year-old Malaysian man had lied about his history of intercourse partners when donating blood in Singapore, and his blood was later found to be HIV positive.
The man, who cannot be named due to a court order, pleaded guilty in court yesterday (3 May) to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act and was sentenced to 3 months and 2 weeks imprisonment.
The prosecutor for the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH), said that the man had intercourse with an ex-girlfriend in February 2020, before having intercourse with another man in August that year.
But it was not ascertained how he got infected with HIV, for which there is no cure but can be controlled with medication.
In October 2020, the man decided to donate blood, and he was asked in a donor health assessment questionnaire if he had slept with more than 1 partner in the previous 12 months, as well as asking if he had intercourse with another man.
The man’s answer to both questions was “no”.
A medical screener later interviewed him after the questionnaire and informed him that if his answers were false or misleading, he faces prosecution – She also told him that if he felt his blood shouldn’t be transfused to another person, he could call a 24-hour hotline.
But the man didn’t call the hotline or change his answers, and his blood was later found to be HIV positive after being tested.
It is also unknown if the man was aware that he was HIV positive before donating blood.
A doctor from HSA’s blood services group then interviewed the man on 2 November and he confessed to having had intercourse with another man.
An MOH officer also interviewed him on 5 November and he also admitted to her, and MOH’s enforcement branch was then alerted and he was charged in court in 2021.