Consensus Report on STI, HIV and AIDS Epidemiology Malaysia 2001

The present HIV/AIDS surveillance system in Malaysia is based on reporting of infections/cases and HIV testing of women attending antenatal clinics, blood donors, STD patients and tuberculosis inpatients as part routine HIV screening activities. 

In 2000, among 285,000 antenatal women tested, only 0.03% were found to be HIV-positive. Among 330,000 blood donors tested in 1999, only 0.01% were positive. There is evidence that HIV prevalence among STD patients and female sex workers (FSW) in Kuala Lumpur is increasing. HIV prevalence rates among FSW and STD patients in selected urban areas are beginning to exceed 5%. However the average HIV prevalence throughout the country in these high-risk behaviour groups is less than 5%. There are very few behavioural data related to HIV/AIDS and STIs.

The number of current HIV infections has been estimated to be 42,000 in 2000 (range: 30,000-81,000). The population sizes of HIV-risk behaviour groups and the representativeness of surveys needs to be reassessed.