Materia Medica Malaysiana

Two HIV-Infected Patients Die Daily

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Daily, two infected HIV patients die while 20 new HIV cases and three AIDS carriers are reported to the Health Ministry.

If this figure continues on the upward trend, it will be a new epidemic for Malaysia, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Monday.
He said currently there were more than 58,000 HIV-infected cases in the country, and 80 per cent comprised young people aged 13-39 years.
"Three-quarters of the reported cases were infected through intravenous drug use, 13 per cent by heterosexual transmission, and 0.69 per cent from mother-to-child transmission," he said at the launching of HV-7, a seventh generation rapid test kit for HIV/AIDS developed by Malaysian researchers funded by TH Koid Foundation.