Johor's Malay housewives face HIV risk

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg

They are victims of their husbands' infidelity. The state
government calls for an awareness campaign

JOHOR BARU - Malay housewives in Johor, including even those
who practise safe sex, are now at risk of contracting HIV
because of their husbands' infidelity.

Some of them who had contracted the virus that leads to Aids
did not know it until they were tested positive for the
disease, Malaysia's Berita Harian reported yesterday.

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Hence the state government has called for a campaign to
educate housewives about the disease.

Ms Halimah Mohamed Sadique, chairman of the State Committee
on Family Development, Women's Affairs and Health, was
quoted as saying that information on Aids should be
disseminated to Malay housewives.

'Many of them are ignorant of the disease and don't know how
it is spread,' she said at a seminar on women and Aids here
on Thursday.

She said these women were innocent victims who had
contracted the disease because of their husbands'
infidelity.

They had perceived marriage as an 'insurance' that would
protect them from the disease, she added.

She said: 'It is no longer safe for women to assume that HIV
or Aids will not spread within the sanctuary of their homes.

'It is high time the women played an active role in fighting
the disease by volunteering their services through the
Women's Affairs Department and other non-governmental
organisations.'

According to records, 459 - or 5 per cent - of the 9,055 HIV
carriers identified in Johor are women, 95 of them
housewives.

Of the total number of carriers, 6,739 are Malays, 1,394 are
Chinese, 739 are Indians and the remaining are people of
other races.

Ms Halimah said women should actively work to 'break the
chain of infection' by acquiring knowledge about and
adopting ways to prevent HIV and Aids.

In fact, Johor has taken a bold step to prevent the disease
from spreading through marriage by making it compulsory for
Muslim couples to undergo HIV/Aids tests first.

She said HIV and Aids posed a threat to the state's
productivity as 80 per cent of the HIV carriers belonged to
the most productive age group of 39 years and below.

She said between September 1989 and February this year, the
state recorded 4,154 carriers aged between 30 and 39, while
another 3,178 carriers were in the 20-29 age group.

Besides being a threat to productivity, the disease also
posed problems to the lives of the victims, she added.

She urged the womenfolk to join in the battle against the
disease by volunteering to help in the campaign.