In Malaysia, WHO (2007) indicates an adult mortality¹⁶⁸ rate per 1,000 population of 199 for males and 107 for females. Life expectancy for males is 69; for females 74. Healthy life expectancy is 62 for males; 65 for females.¹⁶⁹

Statistics concerning causes of death in Malaysia should be interpreted with caution since not all deaths are medically inspected. One commentator estimated that in 1998, only 44% of deaths were certified.¹⁷⁰

During 2005, there were 40,586 deaths in Malaysia’s government hospitals. Septicaemia was the most common cause of death, closely followed by diseases of the heart and pulmonary circulation. Malignant neoplasms are ranked third (Table 25).

Table 25 Leading causes of death, government hospitals 2006

Source: Information and Documentation System Unit, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

HIV AIDS

In December 2007, UNAIDS reported that the global HIV prevalence appears to have levelled off. However, the number of people living with HIV has risen to an estimated 32 million in 2007 from 29.0 million in 2001. Some 2.5 million people were newly infected with the virus in 2007 and 2.1 million died of AIDS-related illnesses.

In Asia, an estimated 4.9 million people were living with HIV in 2007, including the 440,000 people newly infected in the past year. Approximately 300,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses during 2007. This same year, there were almost 20% more new HIV infections in East Asia than in 2001. HIV prevalence is highest in South-East Asia, with wide variation in epidemic trends between different countries. Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia show declines in prevalence, but the epidemic is growing at a particularly high rate in Indonesia and in Vietnam.¹⁷¹

In its 2006 Malaysia country report, UNAIDS stated:

The rise in HIV/AIDS has continued unabated since the first three cases of HIV in Malaysia were diagnosed in 1986. In recent years, the numbers reported have increased at an average rate of about 500 to 600 per month, and more than 7,000 have died. Currently, Malaysia is labelled as a country with a “concentrated epidemic” based on a relatively low rate of infection in the general population as measured by a prevalence of less than 0.1% (Table 26)

Table 26 Estimates of people living with HIV in Malaysia

Source: UNAIDS 2006 report on the global AIDS epidemic

Yet while the present numbers in Malaysia appear small on a global scale, the relative size and population group most affected – young men - belie a scale of potential serious impact for a small, developing country that is aiming for developed status by 2020. In addition, most HIV infections in Malaysia occur among heterosexual men, which extend the risk of sexual transmission to women and, by vertical transmission, to infants. The extended latent period, ignorance or denial of risk, and the attached deep and pervasive stigma, are but a few of the biological and social factors that hamper efforts in prevention and control.¹⁷²