The rapid spread of HIV in Malaysia has been attributed to unsafe injecting practices, chiefly the use and sharing of contaminated drug injecting equipment among people who inject drugs. Estimates show that there are about 170,000 people who inject drugs in the country, with an HIV prevalence of 22.1%. They are predominantly male, young, of Malay ethnicity and heterosexual. Female drug users remain a minority in this key affected population (2%).