theSun | Tuesday December 9 2008 11

news without borders

Women account for

50% of AIDS infections
by Karen Arukesamy mitments to the Millennium Development Goals
newsdesk@thesundaily.com (MDG),” he added.
He said Malaysia is working to achieve the goal
PETALING JAYA: The new face of AIDS is increas- of combating HIV and AIDS by 2015.
ingly female and young. “One of the key strategies to achieving the
In the early years of the AIDS pandemic, men Sixth MDG is by addressing women and children’s
vastly outnumbered women among people living vulnerability to HIV,” he said.
with HIV. However, current statistics showed half the Youssuf said both the Health Ministry and
number of HIV-positive people globally are female. Unicef believe there must be a gendered response
More than 20 years since its first reported case to the impending HIV crisis confronting women
in 1986, Malaysia has recorded a total of 80,938 and girls in Malaysia; a response that is sensitive to
infections. the socio-cultural context of women’s lives.
Although the new cases reported annually “Unicef commends Malaysia for recognising
have averaged at 5,640 over the past 10 years, the importance of addressing HIV vulnerability
surprisingly, the number of new infections among among women, young people and children, as
men has decreased steadily during the period. identified in Strategy 4 of the National Strategic
The feminisation of the epidemic has bucked Plan on HIV and AIDS 2006-2010,” he said.
the previous trend of male domination among The Unicef and UNAIDS global campaign “Unite
those infected in Malaysia. for Children, Unite Against AIDS” complements
The latest report by the Health Ministry and this strategy by addressing four core components
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), entitled of HIV prevention among women, children and
Women and Girls Confronting HIV and young people, he said.
AIDS in Malaysia “We must increase
2008, revealed women’s and girls’
women
HIV-positive
that new HIV knowledge of the infec-
tal
infections
m ad e up half of the to tion; expand access to
women
among women As of 2007, ly. In M al ay sia: sexual reproductive
HIV global
rose drastically infected with t on e- health education and
16.4% (almos
to 16% in 2007
20 07 , w om en made up testing; increase their
» In le;
from 1.2% in infected peop ability to protect them-
1990, most of fifth) of newly en w ere infected selves from HIV; as well
o w om
erage of tw
whom were » In 2007, an av day; as fight gender discrimi-
y
housewives. with HIV ever ew iv es ar e in - nation and violence,”
Women and
es th e nu mber of hous ke rs ; he said.
girls made up of » Five tim co m pa red to sex wor “We must empower
HI V,
almost one-fifth fected with V is on th e rise; women to make posi-
of HI
transmission
of newly infected » Heterosexual HIV ca se s no tified tive decisions in the
persons nation- , there 80,938 face of the HIV epi-
wide in 2006, » Till end of 2007inistry; demic – for themselves
M
and were mainly to the Health e w er e 1, 76 6 and for their children,”
, ther
infected by hetero- to June, 2008 ,704 cases.
» From January ul at ive of 82 Youssouf said.
sexual intercourse. give a cum At the same time,
cases, which gh es t
This reflects a tw ee n 20 -4 9 have the hi e men should embrace
be ag
dynamic unfolding » Women aged ctions, especially the 30-39 the role that they
fe
in Malaysia: Men number of in can play in creating
continue to get bracket. He alth M inistry) positive change for
(Sourc e:
infected with HIV women and children,
through injected he said.
drug use and women The report’s recommendations, among others,
through heterosexual transmission. are:
Unicef representative to Malaysia Youssouf » Establish and strengthen the Women, Girls and
Oomar said in his keynote address that young peo- HIV Desk;
ple are very important in the struggle to control » Enhance the availability and capacity of techni-
the HIV epidemic in Malaysia. cal expertise at the National AIDS Secretariat;
“With HIV infections rising steeply among » Increase the availability of gender dis-aggregated
women in the last 10 years, children are the ones data and analysis;
who will bear the consequences of this epidemic,” » Undertake more social science research to
he said at the launch of the report last week. examine HIV-related vulnerabilities and risks;
“Yet children and youth are the ones who have » Identify and implement specific programmes which
the power to change attitudes and behaviour, and address issues of HIV vulnerability for women;
alter the course of HIV for generations to come,” » Encourage women to go for voluntary HIV coun-
he stressed. selling and testing (VCT); and
“Malaysia has given HIV a strong focus in the » Strengthen sexual reproductive health education
national agenda, in line with the country’s com- and youth initiatives.

Still dogged by social stigma

PETALING JAYA: Jenny (not her real name) was
forcibly separated from her only daughter for
three years after her husband’s death and was an
outcast in her own family.
The single mother, 38, tested positive for HIV in
July 2002 after her husband died from AIDS.
“I couldn’t accept the fact when the doctor
broke the news to me, especially after my hus-
band’s death. I could only cry,” she said.
“My mother-in-law took Jasmine away from
me, fearing that I would spread the sickness to her
and didn’t allow me to see her,” she said, adding
that her family, too, turned its back on her.
Speaking at a press conference at the AIDS
Treatment for Life International Survey (Atlis)
results presentation by the Malaysian Society for
HIV Medicine (MaSHM) recently, Jenny admitted
that the thought of death occurred to her several
times but fortunately her brother gave her the
support and comfort she badly needed.
He took her to Malaysian Care, and after
receiving counselling, Jenny began to build her
self-esteem and realised that being HIV-positive
was not the end of the world.
Determined to get what was rightfully hers, she
fetched Jasmine after school one day in 2005 and
went away to start a new life with her daughter.
Jenny shared her story to give other HIV and
AIDS patients hope.
The Atlis survey revealed that Malaysia had the
third largest number of HIV-positive and AIDS pa-
tients who were afraid of revealing their condition.
It also stated that 85% of HIV and AIDS patients
worldwide did not reveal they have the condition
for fear of social discrimination.
About 58% feared losing their family and
friends, while 58% feared the impact it would have
on their current relationships and 51% feared loss
of employment.
MaSHM president and infectious disease
specialist Dr Christopher Lee, who presented
the results, said these fears are the reasons why
many HIV and AIDS patients do not come forward
to be diagnosed and treated, thus risking both
themselves and their loved ones.
He said everyone has a role to play to de-stigmatise
issues concerning AIDS and that greater understand-
ing and knowledge will help remove social stigma.