KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Persatuan Perantaraan Pesakit Kelantan (Sahabat) today defended its HIV prevention work among high-risk communities in Kelantan, urging the public not to misinterpret its outreach programmes following a police raid and ongoing controversy over a recent event in Kota Bharu.
In a statement released today, Sahabat said it has been a key implementing partner for HIV prevention in Kelantan since 2006, working closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Kelantan State Health Department (JKN Kelantan), and the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC).
Sahabat is a health non-governmental organisation (NGO) that operates under the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF).
The group said its initiatives have been instrumental in reducing new HIV infections in Kelantan, particularly when the epidemic was primarily driven by people who inject drugs.
With transmission patterns now shifting toward sexual contact, Sahabat said its interventions have evolved to reach individuals engaged in high-risk sexual behaviour — populations it described as “often difficult to access through conventional health services.”
“All interventions are carried out with sensitivity to local cultural norms and values,” Sahabat said.
The statement detailed Sahabat’s outreach event at a Kota Bharu homestay on June 17, which became the centre of controversy after police raided the programme, seizing HIV medication and condoms and claiming it was a “gay party”.
Sahabat clarified that 62 individuals attended the programme, including 13 staff members, and that a family medicine specialist and a medical officer delivered health talks on HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The session included an interactive quiz and a communal meal, followed by on-site HIV and STI screening.
“Those who tested positive were referred to MOH facilities for confirmatory testing and follow-up treatment. Four participants living with HIV attended with their own antiretroviral (ARV) medication. No medication was dispensed or distributed at the event,” Sahabat said, adding that the official programme concluded at around 11.30 pm, with about 20 individuals — including seven staff — staying behind to complete follow-up screening in phases.
The group stressed that such programmes are critical for building trust and ensuring sustained engagement with the health system.
“These initiatives are designed to build trust and encourage sustained engagement with the health system — delivering inclusive, compassionate, and stigma-free care, which is critical to the success of national HIV prevention and treatment efforts,” Sahabat and MAC said.
They added that both organisations “welcome constructive feedback and remain committed to working closely with” all stakeholders — including government agencies, enforcement authorities, and civil society partners — to strengthen HIV interventions and support Malaysia’s goal of ending AIDS by 2030.
The Kelantan State Health Department (JKN Kelantan) initially distanced itself from the June 17 outreach event after it was raided by police, before later confirming that the programme was part of its long-standing collaboration with Sahabat.
JKN Kelantan director Dr Zaini Hussin, in a statement on Tuesday, said that local health officers were only invited as guest speakers and that the programme’s objective was to deliver health education, screening, and counselling, not to host a party.
Civil society groups, including Justice for Sisters, criticised the police for mischaracterising the outreach and for spreading misinformation about the event. Despite clarifications by Sahabat and MOH, some politicians repeated police claims that the programme was a “gay party,” fuelling public outrage.
Kelantan police chief Mohd Yusoff Mamat has defended the June 17 raid, saying it was carried out after receiving public complaints and corroborated by intelligence work.
He said the operation, which began at around 1.15 am, was not politically motivated and was taken “with everyone’s best interests in mind”.
