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