Cases of HIV transmitted by sexual activity have been reported among teenagers as young as 13 years, with case numbers also increasing among university students.
According to Malaysian AIDS Council and Malaysian AIDS Foundation honorary secretary Dr Zaiton Yahaya, those aged 20 to 29 years make up the majority of 44% of all HIV sufferers.
“For students aged 13 to 19, 4% of them were confirmed to have HIV, mostly from sexual activity.
“The largest groups are school leavers and university students, who do not know the risk of infection.
“The number of HIV cases from drug use has been decreasing as we frequently run awareness campaigns on the dangers of sharing needles,” Berita Harian quoted her as saying.
Based on the health ministry’s most recent statistics, 135,035 HIV patients were recorded from 1986 to 2023, with 54,365 infections being sexually transmitted.
Eight of the newest HIV cases were under 13 years old.
Records also showed that 62% of HIV infections were among homosexuals and bisexuals, while 33% of them were from heterosexual relationships.
