Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jul 2006
Source: New Straits Times (Malaysia)
Copyright: 2006 NST Online
Contact:  http://www.nst.com.my/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3734
Author:  Leslie Andres
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

CHUA - 300,000 MALAYSIANS WITH HIV/AIDS BY 2015 IF NO ACTION IS TAKEN

THERE could be as many as 300,000 Malaysians with HIV/AIDS by 2015 if 
action is not taken, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said 
today. Reducing the infection rate, he noted, was the only one of the 
eight "Millennium Goals" Malaysia had not achieved.

"This forecast is a huge number," he said. "We have taken all the 
steps we can by increasing the number of people working to solve this 
problem and educating the people.

"It is hoped that programmes such as methadone replacement therapy 
and syringe exchange for drug addicts will keep the numbers down or 
reduce them," Dr Chua told reporters in Parliament lobby.

He had told the House earlier that 70 per cent of Malaysia's 71,676 
registered HIV/AIDS sufferers were drug addicts who had contracted 
the infection by sharing syringes.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman