The trend of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among college and middle school students in our country is worrying, with most cases being transmitted through sexual intercourse.

According to the New Straits Times, Dr. Zaiton Yahaya, honorary secretary-general of the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF), said that young people aged 20 to 29 are the group with the highest HIV infection, accounting for 44% of the total cases; among secondary school students aged 13 to 19, about 4% are infected with HIV, which is also transmitted through sexual intercourse.

She said that although drug-related infections have dropped significantly, sexually transmitted HIV cases have increased steadily. The biggest problem behind this is that young people generally lack knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, a total of 135,035 HIV cases were recorded nationwide from 1986 to 2023, of which more than half (54,365 cases) were infected through sexual intercourse.

Further analysis found that 62% of the infections came from the gay and bisexual communities, and another 33% were transmitted between heterosexual partners.

In order to promote prevention knowledge more effectively, MAC and MAF jointly launched the country's first digital HIV prevention service platform "ProtectNow Hub", which integrates PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), HIV self-testing tools, mental health support, addiction counselling and other services.

Since its launch, the platform has attracted more than 74,000 users. Its goal is to provide correct health information so that more people can understand how to protect themselves and reduce the risk of infection.

If young people want to have fun, they must also have a sense of protection, otherwise they will be the ones who suffer!