Caution issued over HIV in Malaysia

2009-12-03 11:28:11 GMT2009-12-03 19:28:11 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Health Ministry issued a caution over the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) on Thursday.

Its minister Liow Tiong Lai made this remark in his speech while opening the Malaysian National Conference on HIV/Aids in the state of Penang.

Liow said more women were found to be among the HIV cases reported over the past few years.

The number of newly reported HIV infections being transmitted through sexual route was also increasing, added Liow.

Liow pointed out that from 2000 to 2008, reported sexually transmitted HIV cases rose from 18.9 percent to 29.8 percent while cases involving women increased from 9.4 percent to 19.1 percent.

He also said that the number of reported HIV cases reached its peak in 2002 with 6,978 new cases, equivalent to a notification rate of 28.5 HIV cases per 100,000 people.

However, the rate dropped to 13.3 per 100,000 people in 2008 and might further fall to 11 per 100,000 people in 2009, given the surveillance data collected for January to September this year, added Liow.

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