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