As the number of women contracting HIV in Malaysia is on the rise, the country’s Health Minister, Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad on Saturday, urged every woman to carry condoms to protect against the virus that causes AIDS.

The request coincided with the International Aids Memorial Day, which Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, celebrated openly for the first time this year.

“This is not to debase them but to protect them. Women are the first ones to get exploited by their (HIV-positive) partners,” Abdul Latiff Ahmad said, as quoted by the Sunday Star newspaper, adding that it’s up to every woman to choose what is best for her.

Nearly 81,000 Malaysians have been infected with HIV, according to recent statistics. Less than 10 percent of them are women, but the number is on the rise. About 745 women were diagnosed with HIV last year and 193 women with AIDS.

President of Malaysian AIDS Council, Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman said that many of the diagnosed women were believed to have been infected without their knowledge by their husbands who could be drug users.

“It’s not that people don’t know that condoms can protect them. But there are some men who do not care to take the precaution even though they know they have HIV,” Kamarulzaman said.

Three people died of AIDS daily in Malaysia last year, studies showed.