Malaysia could face a widespread HIV/Aids epidemic, a top health official warned on Sunday with the number of infected people rising fourfold to 300,000 by 2015.

"If nothing is done, we may reach 300,000 by 2015," Ramlee Rahmat, deputy director-general of public health, told AFP .

Ramlee said other than drug addicts, statistics by the Health Ministry showed that the virus has spread to women, fishermen, lorry drivers and factory workers.

The government had said that while the main mode of transmission was through sharing needles, heterosexual infection was on the rise and there was a "worrying trend" of increasing rates among women.

Malaysia currently has a total of 73,427 cases of HIV, among a population of almost 27 million.

3 in 4 are men

Ramlee said three-quarter of the people with HIV are intravenous drug users and seven percent are women.

The government "is serious about reversing the trend" and last year it embarked on a five-year national strategic plan, he said.

Ramlee said the measures taken include needle exchange programmes for drug addicts, providing free antiretroviral drugs and drug substitution therapy.

Last year a UN official said countries in Asia and the Pacific can help curb the HIV/Aids epidemic by tackling the spread of the disease in injecting drugs users, but must act speedily.

Malaysia has warned that the rapid spread of AIDS could reverse half a century of development if it fails to act aggressively against the virus.