KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — In 2024, a total of 3,185 new HIV cases were reported, of which 4.2 per cent (135 people) of HIV infections were among adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
In a written Parliament reply yesterday, Health minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad said his ministry has implemented various strategies and policies to address HIV infection among adolescents.
This includes increasing the level of literacy or awareness about HIV/AIDS among the community, especially adolescents and youths.
“The PROSTAR 2.0 programme is an initiative to increase the resilience and awareness of adolescents regarding HIV and STIs, which emphasises the biopsychosocial-spirituality aspect,” said Dzukefly.
“Awareness and accurate knowledge about HIV can not only empower adolescents to avoid HIV but will also reduce and eventually eliminate stigma and discrimination.”
As of June 2025, a total of 592 PROSTAR 2.0 activities involving 55,241 school and higher education (HEI) students have been implemented, with a demonstrated 26 per cent increase in knowledge about HIV, said Dzulkefly
He added that MOH has also increased access to HIV screening, especially for young people through the HIV self-test and TestNow website, which was launched in December 2023.
“The TestNow website provides information about HIV, risk assessment, and access to self-test kits, he said.
“As of June 2025, a total of 188,425 visitors had visited the TestNow website, averaging 324 visitors per day, with 13.4 per cent of them categorised as high-risk for HIV.”
MOH has also expanded the Differentiated HIV Services For Key Populations (DHSKP) in 33 government clinics (klinik kesihatan) in a smart cooperation with GONGO (government-organised non-governmental organisation) to improve the delivery of HIV services, especially to key populations, Dzulkefly said.
Finally, he said that the government has increased HIV prevention treatment for people living with HIV (PLWH) and at-risk groups using harm reduction approaches.
This includes providing HIV prevention treatment or PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) for partners of PLWH and individuals at risk.
“PrEP treatment has the ability to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection through sexual intercourse by approximately 99 per cent and infection through needle sharing by 74 per cent when taken according to the prescribed prescription,” said the minister.
Additionally, MOH has increased coverage of Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment among PLWH and ensured that they take their ARV medication according to the prescribed schedule, which would enable them to live like normal individuals, he concluded.
