AIDS/HIV cases increase to 420

JAKARTA (JP): The ministry of health reported yesterday that 13 more HIV/AIDS cases have been detected, bringing the official number of cases in Indonesia to 420.

Hadi Marjanto A, the ministry's director general for the eradication of communicable diseases and environmental sanitation, said that the 13 cases were detected in blood samples over a one-month period.

All 13 with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus or the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome are heterosexual, the official told Antara in Denpasar. Only six of the 13 people have traceable addresses, which are in Jakarta, North Sumatra and Irian Jaya

The fast spreading illness should prompt the public, especially sex workers, to practice safe sex and avoid promiscuity, he said.

In Semarang, Minister of Health Sujudi told The Jakarta Post that 63 people have died of AIDS in Indonesia.

He said that the actual number of people with HIV or AIDS could be 100 times higher than reported because only a small number of people have had their blood tested.

Sujudi said that if AIDS is not properly controlled here, up to 2.5 million people could be infected by the year 2000, which breaks down to an estimated 150 people contracting it every day. He added that 86 percent of the cases here contracted HIV/AIDS through sexual intercourse.

"When Indonesia has 2.5 million people with HIV/AIDS, the country will have to spend over Rp 32 trillion (US$13 billion) a year to get the epidemic under control," he said.

The minister called for public's assistance in curbing the spread of AIDS, for which a cure has yet to be found. (pan/har)