14 drug users test positive for HIV

14 drug users test positive for HIV

BOGOR: Fourteen drug users in a detoxification program at
Karya Bhakti Bogor Hospital tested positive for HIV, an official
said on Monday.

Head of the Karya Bhakti Foundation Subagyo Partodihardjo, who
is also the head of National Narcotics Commission (KNAPN), told a
media conference that in 2003, 14 patients tested positive for
HIV.

Data from KNAPN further revealed that 70 percent of inmates in
all penitentiaries in Indonesia were living with the AIDS, which
attacks the immune system.

Subagyo said the commission's main concern was in giving out
information on the danger of drug use to the public, warning them
of the dangers of sharing needles.

"Most of the drug addicts aren't aware that what they are
consuming are narcotics as they are told by drug dealers that
they are food supplements," he said. -- JP