KAMPALA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan government has tabled a bill before parliament, seeking death sentences for HIV/AIDS sufferers who intentionally infect minors.

    Elioda Tumwesigye, a member of the parliamentary committee on HIV/AIDS, quoted by Sunday Monitor said the aim of the Amendment Bill was to mete out heavy punishment to offenders so that the spread of the scourge is stemmed.

    Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and Attorney General, Khiddu Makubuya is soon expected to introduce the bill in parliament for its first reading.

    "If the amendment is passed into law by the Eighth Parliament, any person who knowingly has HIV/AIDS and has sex with a person below the age of 18 and infects that person with the disease, it will be a death sentence," Tumwesigye said during the launch of Partnership for AIDS Treatment Providers (PATREP) at the State House on Friday.

    PATREP, which the First Lady and Ruhaama MP Janet Museveni launched, is a joint effort by crusaders against HIV/AIDS, which aims at maximizing the potential of the health care system to provide treatment.

    Members of the partnership include the World Health Organization, Mulago Hospital's Infectious Disease Institute, Kampala City Council, and other private health care providers.

    The initiative included the development of a treatment referral system in the greater Kampala area, but which is expected to roll out to other regions at a later stage.

    The Ugandan government has been internationally hailed for its success to bring down the AIDS prevalence from over 20 percent in 1990's to 6 percent in the last few years. Enditem