AIDS in West Java

Being interested Minister Khofifah's warning about the lack of attention by Indonesian males to take care of their reproductive health, making them prone to HIV and AIDS infection (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 2, 2000) and reading news by Pikiran Rakyat, about the rapid spread of AIDS in West Java (Dec. 2, 2000). I wish to remind everyone to take proper precautions in their sexual relations, especially those in the province of where I live.

Joe Welder and Kevin Cobb in their book Men's fitness magazine (1996: 248), say that according to the center for Disease Control in Atlanta, about six million men and women in the United States contract either gonorrhea, syphilis or chlamydia yearly. An estimated 30 million Americans are infected with genital herpes, an incurable, often painful disease that claims 500.000 new victims every year.

Other alarming news (the Post, Dec. 1, 2000) has also warned us that AIDS and HIV are now moving toward the east. Given all these facts, it makes me shudder at the thought that West Java is the next area to be hit by the killer disease. Note that West Java, unlike most states in the U.S., is absolutely unready to fight the disease, considering the available medical equipment in hospitals across the province.

ODO FADLOELI

Bandung