M'SIA MAY HAVE 300,000 HIV POSITIVE PATIENTS IN 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama)-- Malaysia may have 300,000 people affected
by HIV by 2015, said Dr Hassan Abdul Rahman, the Director of the Disease Control
Divison of the Health Ministry.

To combat this epidemic, the government has committed RM500 million to
implement the National Strategic Plan on AIDS and the Harm Reduction programme
between 2006 and 2010, he said at the launch of a Health Ministry and the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Report 2008 entitled, "Women and Girls
Confronting HIV and AIDS in Malaysia" here Thursday in conjunction with the
'Special World AIDS Day 2008'.

The National Strategic Plan on AIDS involves various government and
non-government bodies as well as international agencies such as UNICEF.

Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz, the daughter of the northern state of Kedah
Ruler, who officially launched the event, said the trend of new HIV infections
occurring among women in the country had risen alarmingly from 1.2 per cent of
total new cases in 1990 to 16 per cent in December 2007.

She said reducing the impact of HIV required that the needs and issues of
women be addressed at various levels.

A multisectoral approach combining the political will and resources of
government agenices, private sector, non-government organisations and
faith-based organisations was required to tackle the underlying issues, said
Tunku Puteri Intan Shafinaz.

She said there was a need to reverse the underlying socioeconomic factors
that contributed to women's HIV risks, such as gender inequality, poverty, lack
of economic and educational opportunity, and the lack of legal and human rights
protection.

In a survey conducted in 2006, she said more housewives were tested
HIV-positive than sex workers, which could have occurred through heterosexual
sex.

This was a cause of concern as the vulnerability of women and children to
HIV were directly linked to each other, she added.

Tunku Puteri Intan Shafinaz said for families affected by HIV and AIDS, the
impact of stigma could be bigger than the disease itself.

Such a stigma could cause a person to be ostracised by friends and
neighbours, and a child to be shunned by teachers and school friends because
they were HIV positive, she said.

Youssouf Oomar, UNICEF's representative to Malaysia, said the increasing
feminisation of HIV in Malaysia was more than just an issue of preventing or
controlling spread of the virus as it required greater understanding and
response to the vulnerabilities and risks related to gender discrimination and
inequality, cultural and religious norms and economics.
-- BERNAMA