TEMPO, Tuesday, 27 February, 2007 | 15:40 WIB
Health Minister: AIDS in Papua Declared Extraordinary Situation
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari announced that AIDS
cases in Papua Province have been categorized in Extraordinary Situation (KLB).
"It was a rapid increase there. The incident rate was 2.5 percent. In fact, national
cases were only rated 1 percent," she said during a working meeting with AD Hoc III
Committee of Regional Representative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia,
Monday (02/26), in Jakarta.
Referring to data of the Department of Health of December 2006, AIDS sufferers in
Papua reached 947 cases. It means that 2.5 percent of Papua inhabitants, around 2.5
million, were infected by AIDS. In fact, in September 2006, AIDS sufferers there were
only 865, of which 192 of them are deceased. It indicates that within three months,
there was an increase of 82 cases.
Meanwhile, estimated data of the infected-prone population and the estimated
population of HIV and AIDS sufferers that the Department of Health collected showed
that around 169,000 to 216,000, with an average of 193,000, were suffering from HIV
and AIDS.
According to Siti, AIDS problems in Papua will not be solved if the pattern that is used
to reduce AIDS is still passive. "It must be altered: by our coming to them, not them
who come to us. If it is required, we will go door to door," she said. Dwi Riyanto
Agustiar
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