39 detainees live with HIV

39 detainees live with HIV

DEPOK: Thirty-nine people detained at the Depok City Police
precinct between October and December last year were Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) carriers, the municipal health
agency announced on Tuesday.

Communicable disease prevention unit head Hanny Hamidah said
her office took a random check of 252 of a total of 400 detainees
over the period.

"Ninety percent of the detainees who contracted HIV admitted
they were intravenous drugs users," she said.

Number of people contracted with the virus, which leads to the
fatal acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), is on the rise
among young intravenous drugs users, who got the virus from
shared dirty needles.

Hanny Hamidah said her office was closely monitoring the 39
people who had HIV.

"We have asked them to notify us if their condition turns
bad," she said. -- JP