About Malaysian AIDS Foundation

Overview

The Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) is a non-profit organisation that raises and administer funds to support the activities and programmes of Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and its Partner Organisations. It was formally incorporated under the Trustees (Incorporation) Act 1952 on May 13, 2003. Through its activities and programmes, MAF was able to reach out to as many people living with HIV as possible with health services, care and compassion, so as to improve their quality of life and enable them to contribute positively back to society.

To date more than 100,000 Malaysians have been diagnosed with HIV, with more than 17,000 death reported. Many of whom came from underprivileged backgrounds with limited access to basic health care and suffer stigma and discrimination attached to HIV and AIDS – in work place, in public services, even in education sector.

The impact of HIV and AIDS is seen most dramatically in those in the lower social strata of society including among children and adolescents orphaned by AIDS. They are deemed the most vulnerable because they face grave risks to their education, health, and well-being. Many more children live with parents who are chronically ill, live in households that have taken in orphans or have lost their family members to AIDS and they are all equally affected by the epidemic.

MAF needs your help to put an end to the negative impact of HIV and AIDS on Malaysian society. We need your help to make positive changes in the life of those who are at the most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS and to carry out important HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment efforts that can protect our future generation from this epidemic. As a charity organisation, we rely on fundraising and your generosity to fund life-saving support schemes for People Living with HIV, particularly for programmes for women and children who are affected by the epidemic.

 

Objectives of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation:

Prevent the spread of HIV in Malaysia.

Increase public awareness and knowledge on HIV issues

Protect the rights of PLHIV who may suffer discrimination due to their HIV status.

Support Malaysians living with HIV, including women and children orphaned or made vulnerble by AIDS.

Timeline

  • 1986

    The first case of HIV infection in Malaysia was first recorded in 1986.
  • Right from the onset of the epidemic, Malaysian Government was fast to recognise the threat of HIV to public healthcare as well as its negative impact on social fabric of Malaysian society.
  • 1992

    Recognising that the epidemic was concentrated among hard-to-reach segment of the society, government quickly mobilise civil societies by establishing the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) in 1992, which started as a coalition of just 6 grassgroot NGOs working on HIV/AIDS works.
  • 1993

    In 1993, Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF), the dedicated fundraising arm of MAC was established to help to bridge the gap in funding for AIDS programme by the government.
  • 1998

    The Medicine Assistance Scheme, to provide anti-retroviral medicines to underprivileged Malaysians living with HIV, was launched by MAF.
  • 2014

    MAF today, as a legally-recognised tax exemptable non-profit organisation, works closely with corporate organisations and institutional funders – both locally and internationally - to raise funds for the 47 Partner Organisation of MAC as well as providing direct assistance to People Living With HIV and Malaysia.