MJM, Vol 70 Supplement 1 September 2015
HIV and AIDS in Malaysia: How big is the burden in
2008?
Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Globally, over the past decade, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has emerged as one of the major challenges for the world and is one of the leading causes of mortality and disease burden. In 2010, HIV/AIDS contributed to 2.8% of global death and 3.3% of total global burden of disease. In Malaysia, the disease also showed an increasing trend. This paper examines the burden of HIV/AIDS to Malaysian population in 2008.
Method: The calculation of Burden of Disease in term of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) was done using the methodology used in the Global Burden of Disease Study. The population and mortality data was provided by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and the incidence cases were based on the Notifiable Disease database, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
Results: The total DALYs for HIV/AIDS for 2008 was 45,532 and it contributed to 1.6% of the total burden of disease in Malaysia. Almost 75% of the burden was due to YLL (mortality components). Males contributed 88% of the HIV/AIDS burden. The highest burden were among the age group of 30-44 (63.3%), followed by age group of 45-59 (16.6%). The burden of HIV/AIDS in 2008 was higher compared to 2000.
Conclusion: There was an increase by 50% in the burden of HIV/AIDS in 2008 compared to 2000 and the increase was also found to be according to gender and age group. Majority of the burden was due to associated mortality. Multi-sectorial collaboration and efforts should be intensified to reduce the number of incidence cases as well as reduce the mortality due to HIV/AIDS.
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, burden of disease, DALYs, Malaysia
