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"Chua: RM145m for
anti-AIDS scheme worth it"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(14/06/05) Ng Si Hooi
It
will cost the Government RM145mil to provide free condoms and syringes to
drug addicts under a programme to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However,
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek described this as still cheap, as
there would be 90,000 HIV/AIDS cases reported if nothing was done, with the
medicine bill shooting up to RM500mil. “We have not included the other
costs, such as hospitalisation. Such patients also have a higher risk of
being infected by diseases like TB (tuberculosis).
“It
will also lead to an economic loss as they cannot contribute to the
country,” he told a press conference after opening the National Seminar on
Millennium Development Goals at a hotel here. He said the ministry planned
to implement the needle exchange and condom distribution plan under a harm
reduction programme on about 130,000 injecting drug users, out of the one
million drug addicts in the country. “Under the programme, we will also
provide counselling and education and teach them good values,” he said,
adding that the health of drug addicts involved would also be monitored.
He
said he would brief religious officials and NGOs on the programme, adding it
would be emphasised that the ultimate objective was to save lives. “I hope
Malaysians will not politicise this health issue,” he said, adding that
according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaysia was on the verge
of an HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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