Malaysia's battle with HIV/Aids appears to be raging, but has shown little result o date. The latest development shows that 81,000 Malaysians could be afflicted, based on estimates by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids).
The HIV/Aids figures are escalating, but not the efforts to halt the spread of this global pandemic. Students are not being taught the bare facts of HIV/Aids or about the functions of condom as a contraceptive tool and aid to safe sex.

Keeping in mind the potential of the disease to spread rapidly, neither time nor effort should be wasted in raising awareness on preventive measures to keep HIV/Aids at bay.

The health ministry insists that 64,439 people have been infected since 1986. And of that number, only 15 percent contracted the disease through sexual activity, with 13.6 percent comprising heterosexuals and 1.3 percent homosexuals. The majority affected are intravenous drug users, who accounted for 75. 1 percent of those living with HIV/Aids as at last year.

The ministry's studies show that there are 20 new cases of HIV every day. Of the people living with HIV, 9,444 have developed Aids and 7,195 have died.

The statistics are telling and if drastic measures are not employed, the nation will be left with no choice but to witness an Aids epidemic. In this regard, the anxiety of Dr Nafis Sadik, special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general and special envoy for HIV/Aids in Asia, is understandable.

Dr Nafis was quoted in New Straits Times (NST, Aug 22, 2005) as saying that HIV/Aids in Malaysia has moved from the epidemic to the generalised epidemic stage.

(A generalised epidemic is when HIV spreads beyond the high-risk behaviour population groups. It also means the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women is above one percent.)

There is additional cause for worry - housewives have outnumbered sex workers as being HIV positive, at 1,200 as at last year.

Sadly, there has been little effort in encouraging housewives to encourage the use of condoms as a means of protection against unsafe sex. It is ironic that while other countries like India are working hard at promoting condom use among sex workers, Malaysia barely utters a word about condom use. The government has been silent about condom use among spouses.

Uninterested employers

Human Resources Ministry secretary-general P Manogran has been quoted (NST, Sept 6, 2005) as saying that 7,300 HIV positive people work in factories, offices and government departments. He urged more workplaces to adopt the Code of Practice on Prevention and Management of HIV/Aids. To date only 30 companies have done so.

The code outlines how HIV/Aids policies are developed and also encompasses employers' responsibilities, including preventing discrimination and stigmatisation and keeping medical details of HIV-positive employees confidential.

The fact that only 30 companies have bothered to adopt the code reflects the indifferent attitude of employers at large in extending empathy and compassion towards employees who are HIV- positive.

A hostile and judgemental working environment is what prevents many such people from revealing their medical status quo. The fear of ostracisation by the employer and colleagues forces many of the HIV/Aids employees to keep mum about their health. This chain reaction must be dismantled and such employees be assured that all matters pertaining to their health will be treated in confidence.

Looking at the rising numbers of people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA) and its effect on the nation's productivity, it is time that the government looks at making the code compulsory. It is clear that merely urging companies to implement the code will have no influence in reducing HIV/Aids numbers.

Halting the spread of HIV/Aids, malaria and other infectious diseases is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals that must be achieved by 2015 under the Millennium Declaration, endorsed by 189 countries at United Nations' Millennium Summit in September 2000.

In Malaysia's case, it is far from realising this particular goal for reasons that are too obvious.

Education crucial

When Health Ministry director-general Dr Ismail Merican (left) said the spread of HIV/Aids can only be done through education, he was only partially correct. His concern is solely with halting the sexual spread or transmission of HIV/Aids, and not with the need to arrest the spread of the disease as a whole.

Whilst educating all and sundry about HIV/Aids is a laudable effort, the ministry must not be seen to be 'biased' against the 'sexual' side of this disease. Education must encompass the whole gamut of HIV/Aids, what leads to it and steps to arrest its spread.

Ismail must not forget that intravenous drug users make up the majority PLWHA in Malaysia. Any effort to educate the public on HIV/Aids must include the hazards of needle sharing. The ministry must not play the role of a censorship board in deciding which information should or should not be disseminated in educating the public.

HIVAids should not be made out to be solely as a 'sex' issue, for as most of us know already that it can be contracted through other means as well.

Now that housewives form the bigger number of those who are HIV-positive, how does the the ministry intend to tackle this development? Is it looking at educating housewives on safe sex methods which includes making informed choices or will it conveniently skip this aspect?

At present the commitment to fight the HIV/Aids disease is not clearly reflected by the government. More action is needed in combating this disease. Help from everyone - government agencies, private sector and non-governmental organisations - is much needed.

Education must trickle down to the target groups and feedback must be obtained to gauge public understanding of HIV/Aids.

As unglamorous as the issue of HIV/Aids is, it has to be tackled, with everyone doing their bit.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.