Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 1, 2003
Marina Mahathir, president of the Malaysian AIDS Council, said people were reluctant to acknowledge the disease was a threat, even though Malaysia currently has 57,000 reported HIV/AIDS cases, mostly stemming from drug addicts who share infected needles.
"What's alarming is the level of denial in Malaysia," Marina, the daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, said while launching an exhibition in conjunction with World AIDS Day. "Malaysians think we will never become like Africa. That is simply not true."
Estimates indicate there will be 7,000 new HIV/AIDS cases in Malaysia this year, proving that "the situation is not under control," said council vice president Christopher Lee.
Some Malaysians weren't taking precautions to avoid infection, Lee said, citing a survey that claimed nearly half of Malaysians aged between 16 and 45 will sleep with a new partner who refused to use a condom.
The rate of infections "through heterosexual contact has been steadily increasing, and that is the link we are most fearful about," Lee was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper. "That is the link that will result in the spread of HIV to mainstream society."
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