KUALA LUMPUR: About 99 per cent of children born to HIV- positive mothers in Malaysia were born uninfected, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.
This was attributed to the implementation of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme since 1998 in all government health facilities while public health facilities covered approximately 75 per cent, she said.
PMTCT is a comprehensive effort undertaken to prevent mother-to-child transmission before, during pregnancy and childbirth, and after delivery.
“The coverage of PMTCT intervention in the government health facilities has improved from 49.7 per cent in 1998 to 100 per cent in 2011,” Rohani said in her opening remarks at the Parliamentarians’ forum in conjunction with the 3rd Global Conference on Women Deliver 2013, here, yesterday.
She said the government was also committed to eliminating vertical HIV transmission by 2015 through the provision of quality, comprehensive national PMTCT services.
Malaysia’s current strategies were aimed at reaching pregnant women, their partners and infants as well as most populations at risk, she added.
Rohani also noted that the greater access to profesional care and family planning services in Malaysia had resulted in maternal mortality ratio declining from more than 40 per 100,000 live births in 1993 to 30 per 100,000 live births from the year 2000.
The ratio remains at 30 per 100,000 live births until 2010.
On the prevention of cancer among women and girls, Rohani said Malaysia was one of the first countries in Asia to introduce a national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme to prevent cervical cancer.
She said RM10 million was allocated in 2010 to the Health Ministry to introduce the vaccination programme for 13-year-old girls.
At a press conference later, Rohani said Malaysia’s achievement in looking after the welfare of women in the areas of health and economic participation was at a commendable level and recognised by international agencies and organisations.
She said political stability was also important to ensure efforts at women empowerment were continuous and successful.
“The conference this time is a meaningful sharing opportunity for Malaysia in our efforts towards achieving developed nation status by 2020,” she said. — Bernama