The Malaysian Aids Council has stepped in where the government fears to thread, such as dealing with issues pertaining to the transmission of the deadly HIV virus among homosexuals.

"Certain issues are difficult for the government to address in a direct manner, such as homosexuals, which are the core issues (when dealing with Aids prevention)," council president Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman told a press conference.

She said this when asked to elaborate on her speech during the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Aids Council biennial general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Adeeba in her speech noted that one of the main focus of the council was to address the gap between the government and the public in Aids related issues.

She also revealed that at present, the council receives RM4 million from the Health Ministry on top of the council's individual fund-raising efforts.

The amount however, is still insufficient as funding for shelter homes and treatment had to be increased due to the soaring number of new HIV infections.

New patron

Officiating the event was Rosmah Mansor, wife of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who told council members that she had accepted nominations for her to become the council's patron.

In her speech, Rosmah stressed that the war against Aids begins with educating the young about the disease.

At the press conference later, Adeeba said campaigns aimed at behavioral changes among youths towards Aids awareness were among the council's main agenda.

According to the Malaysian Aids Council statistics, there were 6,120 cases of HIV infections last year of which approximately 5,420 are male victims.

It is estimated that the country records 19 new cases of HIV infection daily while 300,000 will be infected by the year 2015.