6,000 Irianese suffer from syphilis

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: About 6,000 people in Timika are reportedly suffering from syphilis while four others recently tested positive for HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), Antara said.

Steve Wiegnall, head of the public health center of the mining company PT Freeport in Timika, said on Friday that 95 percent of those affected were women. They were undergoing intensive treatment at the company's clinic.

Wiegnall said many women in Mimika regency had been found in the past several years to suffer from various diseases such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and candidiasis which it is thought they contracted through sexual contacts.

It has been reported that sexual diseases have been spreading through contacts with foreign fishermen operating in Irianese waters. (rms)