Centre is Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director-General of Malaysia’s Ministry of Health, to his left (photo right) is Sha'ari Bin Ngadiman, Director of the Pahang State Health Department, and to his left is Jamilah Hashim, Director of the Sarawak State Health Department, to the Director-General’s right is Anita Suleiman, Head of the HIV/STI/Hepatitis C Sector, Division of Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Malaysia, and to her right is Eamonn Murphy, Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific
UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health of Malaysia have launched a joint web platform that aims to strengthen the generation of strategic information and the use of national, subnational and key population data for evidence-informed programming.
The platform, which is hosted and supported by the UNAIDS regional data hub, was launched by Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director-General of Malaysia’s Ministry of Health, and Eamonn Murphy, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific, at the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Public Health, which ended on 13 September in Kuching, Malaysia.
Malaysia has made significant progress in its response to HIV. This progress has been due to the strategic investments the country has made in making services available for key populations, including people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, transgender people and sex workers.
Health authorities recognize the key role that data and strategic information play in the achievements they have made, but underline that the HIV epidemic is constantly changing and that there is a need to track the virus. The new partnership will ensure that up-to-date strategic information helps to set evidence-informed priorities and a quick response to the evolving dynamics of the country’s HIV epidemic.
“Today’s launch and new partnership between UNAIDS and the Ministry of Public Health harnesses the power of a data revolution to Fast-Track the response to HIV. Malaysia is the very first country in the region to take this step forward, and we hope many others will follow.”
Eamonn Murphy Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific
“Malaysia is committed to making smart investments in key services for people most at risk and in the places they live and work. This new partnership with UNAIDS will ensure that we have the strategic information we need at our fingertips.”
Noor Hisham Abdullah Director-General, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
