Materia Medica Malaysiana

Malaysia to Start Anti-HIV Program

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia will distribute free needles and condoms to drug addicts in a potentially controversial pilot project aimed at curbing HIV infections, the government said Thursday.
Clinics will provide 1,200 volunteer addicts with sterile hypodermics, condoms and methadone _ a painkiller that can help combat withdrawal symptoms _ for six months beginning in October, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.
Authorities will decide later whether to implement the plan on a permanent basis nationwide, Chua said, calling it a "clinical and medical initiative" that has yielded successful results in countries such as Australia and Belarus.
The government is aware that the proposal could stir public sensitivities, Chua said, but he stressed that it was not a sign that the government condones drug abuse or casual sex.
"We will give them needles so that they will not share needles," Chua said. "Morally, we're neutral. Actually, in medical reality, without condoms, HIV will spread."
With Malaysia trying to achieve the status of a developed country, it does not want to be known as "a developed nation ... with the highest number of HIV carriers in Asia," Chua said.
As of late 2004, at least 61,486 HIV infections have been reported in this nation of 26 million people, the minister said. Some 75 percent of them comprised addicts who shared needles, many of whom were also sexually active.
Government statistics indicate there are 300,000 drug addicts, though activists have said the real figure is much higher since many addicts have eluded arrest.