By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 25: The ‘you only live once’ (YOLO) mentality among the younger generation is believed to encourage them to be bold and experiment with new things, including same-sex relationships, which may contribute to the rising HIV infection rate among men aged 20 to 39.
The term is an internet slang often used to encourage people to live life to the fullest and take risks.
According to a Bernama report, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni suggested that such global trends can influence individuals by normalising and promoting such lifestyles.
“The desire to experiment, including grooming, drives individuals to engage in activities beyond natural norms, often without considering the consequences,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara on March 24.
Additionally, he highlighted social media platformers’ role in enabling connections among high-risk individuals which are often without effective control mechanisms to regulate such interactions.
Lukanisman said this in response to a supplementary question from Senator Dr Lingeshwaran R. Arunasalam on factors that heighten the risk of HIV transmission among men who have sex with men, and whether the Ministry of Health (MOH) has implemented awareness programmes to reduce stigma, particularly among young men.
Citing surveillance data from 2024 from the National AIDS Registry (NAR), the deputy minister said that 90 per cent of HIV cases involved men, with 75 per cent affecting individuals aged 20 to 39.
He added that there has been a decline in new HIV infections in Malaysia, from 6,978 cases in 2002—at a notification rate of 28.5 per 100,000 population—to 3,185 cases last year, with a notification rate of 9.4 per 100,000 population.
“In 2024, Malays accounted for 52 per cent of reported HIV cases, followed by the Chinese at 14 per cent. Ethnic-specific rates were highest among Sabah Bumiputera at 14.2 per 100,000 population, followed closely by Sarawak Bumiputera at 14.0 per 100,000, and Indians at 12.1 per 100,000.
“Meanwhile, Selangor recorded the highest number of new HIV cases, with 1,085 cases (34.1 per cent), followed by Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya with 365 cases (11.4 per cent), and Sabah with 344 cases (10.8 per cent),” he said.
Touching on MOH’s initiatives to tackle the spread of HIV, Lukanisman said that its HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) prevention programme is 99 per cent effective in preventing the transmission of the virus through sexual contact.
However, he said, the programme faces opposition from certain groups.
He said the programme they are working on now, and under the ministry, with him as the Coordinating Mechanisms chairman, have gathered groups involved in this initiative, both under and over the age of 30.
The committee includes religious bodies, to observe, offer advice, and assess the current lifestyles that may conflict with societal norms. — DayakDaily
