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"More women infected with HIV in last
15 years"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(01/12/06)
KUALA LUMPUR: More Malaysian women are getting infected with HIV even as the
needle exchange programme and drug substitution therapy are achieving their
targets.
In the last 15 years, the number of women infected with HIV has jumped 10
times from 1.2% in 1990 to 12% in 2005, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr
Chua Soi Lek in his speech for the United Nations World AIDS Day
Commemoration themed Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.
The text of his speech was read out by the ministry’s Disease Control
director Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat.
Asked why this was so, Dr Ramlee said infection through heterosexual
relationships was on the rise, prompting United Nations resident coordinator
Dr Richard Leete to quip: “Drug addicts have sex, that’s the simple fact.”
However, the main mode of HIV transmission in Malaysia is still through the
sharing of needles, which accounted for 75% of the cases.
“Till the end of June this year, 73,427 cases of HIV infection had been
noted, and the infection rate is still disproportionately high in men, who
accounted for 92.6% of all notified cases,” Dr Chua said.
Dr Ramlee told a press conference later that the Methadone Maintenance
Therapy and the Needle and Syringe Exchange Programme (NSEP), which came
under the Harm Reduction Programme, had been able to reach more than its
initial target.
“When we started the NSEP in February this year, we targeted 1,200 people.
To date, we have reached 1,233 people. Of that, 107 have been referred for
methadone therapy.
“As for the methadone therapy which the ministry started in October last
year, we also targeted 1,200 people, but have enrolled 1,240,” he said.
He said they hoped to enrol 5,000 drug addicts for the therapy by the end of
2007, and increase the number of venues providing such therapy nationwide.
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