Governor wants public support for anti-AIDS campaign<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja wants Jakartans to
\nwork hand in hand with city officials in the state-sponsored
\ndrive to prevent the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency
\nSyndrome.<\/p>\n
"Based on the latest data from the Ministry of Health, 74 of
\nthe 214 people suffering from AIDS in the country are
\nJakartans," Surjadi said.<\/p>\n
Surjadi was speaking at the opening of a one-day workshop on
\nAIDS prevention at City Hall yesterday. The topic of the workshop
\nwas AIDS and Family, echoing the theme of this year's World AIDS
\nDay.<\/p>\n
The governor warned that if the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
\nwhich causes the syndrome is not properly checked, the disease
\nwill spread rapidly, with its impact felt not only in health
\ncircles, but in the socio-economic and political sectors as well.<\/p>\n
After opening the seminar, the governor went into a room at
\nCity Hall to test the AIDS hot-line telephone number, 3518102,
\nestablished by the municipal administration. The hot-line
\nservice, manned by officials from the City Health Office, can be
\ncontacted by residents seeking information about HIV or AIDS
\nrelated matters from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each work day.<\/p>\n
"The service is given for free," an official said.<\/p>\n
Soenarjudardji, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter joint
\ncommittee for AIDS prevention, in contrast to Surjadi's figures,
\nsaid there were 72 people being treated in Jakarta's hospitals
\nfor AIDS.<\/p>\n
"Sixty of them are from Jakarta, six from West Java and one
\nfrom Bali," Soenarjudardji said.<\/p>\n
He would not reveal where the five other victims come from.<\/p>\n
Foreigners<\/p>\n
Soenarjudardji said 75 percent or 54 of the victims are
\nIndonesians and 21 percent or 15 are foreigners.<\/p>\n
"We do not know the nationalities of three others yet," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sixty-six percent of the HIV positive people are males between
\n21 and 40 years of age.<\/p>\n
Soenarjudardji said 48 percent of the registered HIV carriers
\nin the city are homosexuals and 15 percent are heterosexuals who
\npicked the virus up through sexual contacts.<\/p>\n
Joko Widodo, the chairman of the special group discussion on
\nAIDS at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), said most
\nof the 72 patients were infected by the disease when they were
\nabroad.<\/p>\n
RSCM is the one and only hospital in the country which is
\nauthorized to conduct the Western-Blot test, a medical checkup
\naimed specifically at detecting infection by HIV.<\/p>\n
The first AIDS case in the city was discovered in the mid
\n1980s.<\/p>\n
"The incidence of the disease has been increasing rapidly ever
\nsince," Soenarjudardji said.<\/p>\n
Djumhana S., the director for the eradication of contagious
\ndisease at the Ministry of Health, a key speaker at the workshop,
\nsaid that the first AIDS case in Jakarta was actually found in a
\nchild in 1986, not in 1987 as claimed by many quarters.<\/p>\n
But this case was not reported for quite a long time, Djumhana
\nadded. (arf)<\/p>",
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