AIDS in Malaysia
Malaysia is home to the fifth fastest growing AIDS epidemic in the East Asia and Pacific region with its current rate of HIV infections doubling every three years.
Between the first detected case in 1986 and 2006, 76,389* people have been infected with HIV while 9,155* have died of AIDS. These statistics suggest that an average of 17 people test positive for the virus each day.
Malaysia's epidemic is largely dominated by injecting drug users who make up about 73% of total cases. There is concern however that heterosexual transmission is on the rise. The proportion of women reported with HIV has increased dramatically in the last decade from 4% of new cases in 1995 to 15% of new cases in 2006. Surveys show that in 2006, more housewives tested HIV-positive than sex workers. At the same time, the percentage of babies born with
HIV has also increased from 0.2% in 1991 to 1.4% in 2006.
As in most parts of the world, young people in Malaysia account for an increasing number of HIV infections every year. December 2006 statistics from the Ministry of Health reveal that 36% of infections are amongst people aged between 13 to 29 years old. It is likely that people infected with HIV before the age of 30 were infected in their twenties and sometimes even during their teens.
Gender inequity, stigma, discrimination, silence, denial and ignorance fuel the epidemic in Malaysia.
* Source: Ministry of Health, Malaysia
another related article, but in larger scope:
How widespread is the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented challenge to humanity. HIV/AIDS was once concentrated primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, but the epidemic knows no borders. It has spread to every region in the world and affects people regardless of age, gender, wealth, geography or sexual orientation. HIV/AIDS is now the fourth-biggest cause of death worldwide.
Concentrated Epidemics
In many countries, HIV is still considered 'low' or 'concentrated, ' confined mainly within groups at especially high risk, such as men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers. An epidemic is considered 'concentrated' when less than one per cent of the general population but more than five per cent of any 'high risk' group are HIV-positive.
Generalized Epidemics
In sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, HIV has become a 'generalized' epidemic that is not contained within any section of the population. An epidemic is considered 'generalized' when more than one per cent of the general population carries the virus.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nine out of ten children with HIV or AIDS are African. Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected region in the world. With just 11 per cent of the global population, the region is home to three-quarters of all people living with HIV and AIDS. Some 30 million people are carry the virus, and is AIDS the leading cause of death on the continent. One in ten people between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV-positive in 12 countries. The majority of new infections occur among young people aged 15 to 24, especially among girls.
In Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, it is estimated that more than 60 per cent of boys currently aged 15 can expect to become HIV-positive. In parts of southern Africa, more than 30 per cent of pregnant women are HIV-positive. Nine out of 10 children with HIV or AIDS are African.
Asia
In Asia, an estimated 7.2 million people are believed to be HIV-positive. Concentrated epidemics among injecting drug users and sex workers have crossed over into the general population in Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, resulting in generalized epidemics. In Indonesia, Nepal and Viet Nam, infection rates are exploding among those two high-risk groups, of whom the majority are under the age of 25. In China, home to a fifth of the world's population, concentrated epidemics have emerged in several provinces and HIV is moving so rapidly that many fear the country is on the verge of a generalized epidemic. India is home to the world's second-largest HIV-positive population.
Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the fastest-growing epidemic in the world. Around 1 million people aged 15 to 49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001, and the number is growing by 250,000 people a year. The epidemic is concentrated among addicted injecting drug users, but it is now spreading to a wider population of occasional injecting drug users and their sexual partners, most of whom are young. In the Russian Federation, there were 3,008 reported new HIV infections among injecting drug users aged 10 to 19 in 1999. By 2000, that number had more than tripled to 9,612.
The Caribbean and Latin America
About 1.9 million adults and children now live with HIV and AIDS, and the epidemic is in danger of spreading rapidly and widely. The Caribbean, with a 2.3 per cent prevalence rate among 15¡V49 year olds, is the most affected region after sub-Saharan Africa. Unsafe sex among men who have sex with men appears to be rife across the entire region; a large proportion of these men also have sex with women. Prevalence levels are highest in The Bahamas, Guyana and Haiti. Most new infections are being reported among young women aged 15-24.
Middle East and North Africa
In the Middle East and North Africa, more than half a million people are living with HIV/AIDS. Available data point to increasing HIV prevalence rates, with about 83,000 new infections in 2002. Significant outbreaks among injecting drug users have occurred in about half the countries in the region, notably in North Africa and in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
High-income countries
Approximately 76,000 people became HIV-positive in high-income countries in 2002, and 23,000 died of AIDS. About 1.6 million people now live positively with the virus, in large part thanks to anti-retroviral drugs that have made remarkable headway in holding back the development of AIDS symptoms. Unfortunately, the advancement in treatment comes with an underestimation of the risk and gravity of HIV/AIDS. Infections are on the rise again apparently because many people view HIV/AIDS as a treatable disease and are therefore not taking precautions to prevent contracting it.
