Malaysia sees HIV uptick in young people. Are social stigma, poor education to blame?

Social stigma and a lack of sexual knowledge accounted for the slower decline in HIV cases in Malaysia over the last decade, health experts say

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Malaysia’s Petronas Twin Towers. Sex education remains taboo in Malaysian schools despite repeated calls to expand the topic beyond basic biology. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:00pm, 5 Jul 2024

HIV infections are on the rise among university students in Malaysia, with health analysts urging stronger HIV awareness campaigns aimed at young people and easier access to preventive measures.

Some 244 students between 18 and 25 years old were infected last year, a 31 per cent increase from 2021, said Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir on Wednesday, with infections across the age group accounting for about 7 per cent of all new HIV cases last year.

Malaysia’s 2023 report to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids estimated that there were 86,000 people living with HIV in the Southeast Asian nation in 2022, with 80 per cent aware of their condition.

In January last year, Malaysia launched a pilot programme to provide public access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which can lower the chances of getting HIV from sex by over 90 per cent and from injecting drugs by over 70 per cent if taken daily, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

A woman walks past a mural depicting a healthcare worker at a government clinic in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

Before the initiative, PrEP was only available at private clinics. As of March this year, over 3,400 people have received the drug regimen under the programme.