Survey: Only 22.6pct have sufficient knowledge about HIV
The lack of awareness among the country’s population about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is worrying, where only 22.6 percent have sufficient knowledge about the virus.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) indicated that three out of four adults have shown stigma towards HIV patients.
“This can also affect the success of...
The lack of awareness among the country’s population about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is worrying, where only 22.6 percent have sufficient knowledge about the virus.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) indicated that three out of four adults have shown stigma towards HIV patients.
“This can also affect the success of HIV prevention and treatment programmes among PLHIV (people living with HIV),” he said after launching the NHMS 2020 report on communicable diseases in Putrajaya yesterday.
Data collection began in August until October 2020 involving 5,957 residents aged one and above from 1,876 living quarters randomly selected across the country.
Khairy said the survey had been conducted before the third Covid-19 wave hit the country.
Meanwhile, until October 2020, the survey found that 0.6 percent of the population or 200,000 residents had contracted the Covid-19 virus, he said.
He added that four out of five infected individuals or 15,000 people were unaware they had been infected.
Khairy said public awareness regarding antibiotic resistance among adults was still low with 75 percent of them having never heard of the matter.
He said 25 percent of those surveyed were reported to have taken antibiotics in 2019 of which 34.4 percent of them did not complete the course after recovering from their sickness.
Tuberculosis and hepatitis
Khairy said the report discovered that 600,000 adults had experienced symptoms similar to tuberculosis (TB) in 2019, adding that only 57 percent of them sought treatment from licensed medical practitioners while the rest chose to undergo self-treatment.
He said the majority of those who did not seek treatment, 78 percent, believed that the symptoms they experienced were not related to TB.
Khairy said the country is in the midst of eradicating hepatitis by 2030.
He said according to the survey, nearly 400,000 adults in the country were still infected by the hepatitis B virus while 350,000 adults were living with chronic hepatitis B infection.
He said based on the survey, the Health Ministry is looking at carrying out universal screenings for hepatitis B among pregnant women receiving treatment in public facilities.
- Bernama
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