A Harm Reduction Approach to HIV/AIDS and Drug Use in Malaysia

Abstract

In 2006, the Malaysian government introduced harm reduction as a strategy to address the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Malaysia. The country’s harm reduction approach comprised of two initiatives: methadone maintenance therapy and the needle syringe exchange program.

The introduction of harm reduction marked the government’s shifting attitude from one that viewed drugs as a national security issue towards one that treated drugs as a public health concern. But Malaysia’s harm reduction initiatives still faced numerous challenges. Such strategies were viewed as being counter to the Islamic laws of prohibition and thus faced opposition from some religious leaders and organizations. Further, the public generally took a negative view of IDUs, and law enforcement agencies and public health initiatives sometimes came into tension. The challenges involved in scaling harm reduction efforts had wider implications for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependents in Malaysia.