MOST of the women living with HIV/AIDS in Kelantan are likely to have contracted the virus from their straying husbands.

State Family, Women and Health Committee chairman Wan Ubaidah Omar said in 2009, there were 616 HIV/AIDS cases and 16 per cent of them were women.

"Out of this figure, 40 per cent are housewives whom we consider as innocent victims.

"It is a worrying trend that the majority of the Kelantan women diagnosed with the disease are housewives," she said in her winding-up speech.

Wan Ubaidah said the 616 cases were the highest number of new infections recorded in the country.

Speaking to reporters outside the house later, Wan Ubaidah also said the public should be aware of the danger of HIV/AIDS as there was still a lack of knowledge about the disease.

"I believe the spread of the disease is due to men who seek the services of prostitutes and also befriending immoral women who are already infected with AIDS."

Wan Ubaidah said the infection would then spread to their wives, casing the whole family, including their children, to suffer.

"I was told that free sex and needle-sharing among drug addicts have been identified as among the reasons for the high HIV cases reported in Kelantan.

"There is also a lack of border control which leads our teenagers to enter a neighbouring country for entertainment."