More HIV Infection Among Housewvies Than Sex Workers In Malaysia

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1 Article ID: WMC ISSN More HIV Infection Among Housewvies Than Sex Workers In Malaysia Corresponding Author: Mr. Mohamed Najimudeen, Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia, Jalan Batu Hampar, Bukit Baru, Malaysia Submitting Author: Mr. Mohamed Najimudeen, Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia Article ID: WMC Article Type: My opinion Submitted on:15-feb-2011, 05:43:22 AM GMT Article URL: Subject Categories:PUBLIC HEALTH Keywords:HIV Infection, Housewives, Sexworkers Published on: 16-Feb-2011, 06:26:12 PM GMT How to cite the article:najimudeen M, Mat Rosy M. More HIV Infection Among Housewvies Than Sex Workers In Malaysia. WebmedCentral PUBLIC HEALTH 2011;2(2):WMC Source(s) of Funding: No funding Competing Interests: No competing interests WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 1 of 8

2 More HIV Infection Among Housewvies Than Sex Workers In Malaysia Author(s): Najimudeen M, Mat Rosy M My opinion It is shocking to note that there are more dreadful HIV infection among innocent housewives than sex workers in Malaysia. This is according to the statistics of AIDS/STI Unit Ministry of Health Malaysia. Females are infected with this deadly disease without their knowledge. Innocent housewives become victims due the misbehaviour of their faithful husbands. When 551 sex workers with multiple partners were found to have HIV infections 2,865 housewives have been found to be infected with HIV Unfortunately the HIV infected woman will not manifest any symptoms unlike many other illness. For example Malaria and urine infection will manifest fever but HIV has no symptoms. Therefore the victim may harbour the illness for many years before presents with serious complications. It is also disturbing to note that 205 students were infected with HIV. What a pathetic suffering and what is the future of this tender teenagers? 593 babies under two years of age were found to have HIV. These babies were infected during delivery. Proper screening and treatment during pregnancy are important to prevent infection during pregnancy and delivery. HIV screening during pregnancy must be made compulsory to prevent the unborn babies More than 75,000 cases are between the ages of years. These are the people in the reproductive age and infect their innocent wives. Can t we do some efforts to prevent this unfortunate victims? There is no difference between ethnic groups with regards to HIV. No religion has any influence to reduce the incidence of incidence. Malaysia is a country with rich cultural heritage and great moral values. Where are we? Mode of transmission Injecting drug users the most vulnerable group to HIV infection. 692 babies got HIV during pregnancy and labour. It is our responsibility to look after these babies. Eighty per cent of them contract AIDS through intravenous drug use, and 13 per cent both by homo and heterosexual transmission. Roughly 0.7 per cent was due to mother to child vertical transmission. Although the total number of HIV cases among housewives appears to be greater than sex workers in Malaysia, this is mostly due to the high prevalence of HIV among IV drug abusers. The Malay men are the highest number of IV drug abusers in Malaysia. Thus, it is coherently possible that, the housewives contracted the dreadful disease from their respective husbands who are IV drug abusers, instead of the norm perception of the husbands are involved in illicit sexual contacts with sex workers who are HIV positive. Most sex workers are aware of HIV infections and the mode of transmission. They ensure use of barrier methods (most prominently the use of condoms) when servicing their clients. This contributes to the relative low numbers of HIV among sex workers. It is also possible that most sex workers do not have the financial means to seek medical attention as frequently as the housewives do, due to their predisposition. Most of the sex workers are either from poor foreign countries or illegally smuggled in. This renders the statistics unreliable. The prevalence among sex workers are under reported. The incidence of HIV are more in some districts in Malaysia. In the year 2009, the highest incidence 596 cases were reported from Kelantan. Pahang reported 431 cases. There were 378 cases were in Selangor and 315 cases were in Terengganu. (4) It is sad that most of the victims are aware of mode of transmission. A Always Condom Use With Pay and Non Pay Client, BBS Malaysia 2004lways Condom Use With Pay and Non Pay Client, BBS Malaysia 2004 Prevention Apart from injecting drug users, sexual transmission is an important mode of transmission. Difficult to eliminate sex workers since this is the oldest profession in the world. However the sex workers should be advised on regular medical check and barrier method of safe sex. There are advertised red light areas in many Western countries. However HIV infection among sex workers are not very high since they follow proper health guidelines. WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 2 of 8

3 The housewives are mostly infected by their husbands. The chance of infection from man to woman is much higher than woman to man. Most of these men are not aware that kissing in the breasts and mouth also can transmit the disease. They should understand that one woman in many position is much safer than many women in one position References 1. The Malaysian AIDS Council- Annual report The Malaysian AIDS Council- Annual report The Malaysian AIDS Council- Annual report ferers-in-malaysia-are-muslims-aids-council.php#ixzz1 Dpkk4lIC WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 3 of 8

4 Illustrations Illustration 1 Tables TOTAL NUMBER OF HIV CASES REPORTED IN MALAYSIA (From 1986 Until June 2009) (1) Category HIV cases Government staff 618 Student 249 Uniformed bodies 674 Fisherman 3,254 Factory workers 4,085 Private sector staff 2,848 Sex workers 551 Housewives 2,865 Long distance driver 2,139 Odd jobs 24,913 Unemployed 15,568 WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 4 of 8 Others 28,363

5 / Total , ,549 (Total from to June 2009) HIV infections in females It is sad to note that the incidents are increasing among females Year infection Male Female infection % 1.15% % 3.83% % 9.41% WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 5 of % 12.04% % 15.00%

6 Age distribution (3) Age group Cases Under 2 years years years 1, years 29, years 37, years 13,596 More than 50 years 3,170 No data 943 Total 86,127 cases WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 6 of 8

7 Illustration 2 Tables Ethnic group No. of HIV cases Malay 61,864 Chinese 12,478 Indian 6,831 Bumiputra Sarawak 430 Bumiputra Sabah 569 Original 39 Others in Peninsular 625 Foreigners 2,983 No information 308 Total 86,127 Mod of transmission No.ofHIVcases WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 7 of 8 Injecting drug users 61,123 Blood/ organ 33

8 Disclaimer This article has been downloaded from WebmedCentral. With our unique author driven post publication peer review, contents posted on this web portal do not undergo any prepublication peer or editorial review. It is completely the responsibility of the authors to ensure not only scientific and ethical standards of the manuscript but also its grammatical accuracy. Authors must ensure that they obtain all the necessary permissions before submitting any information that requires obtaining a consent or approval from a third party. Authors should also ensure not to submit any information which they do not have the copyright of or of which they have transferred the copyrights to a third party. Contents on WebmedCentral are purely for biomedical researchers and scientists. They are not meant to cater to the needs of an individual patient. The web portal or any content(s) therein is neither designed to support, nor replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician. Your use of the WebmedCentral site and its contents is entirely at your own risk. We do not take any responsibility for any harm that you may suffer or inflict on a third person by following the contents of this website. WebmedCentral > My opinion Page 8 of 8