Athletes, officials warned of AIDS

JAKARTA (JP): A senior Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports official has asked that athletes as well as officials heading for the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, stay away from the red-light districts during their stay in Chiang Mai from Dec.9-Dec.17.

Imam Sujudi, the minister's assistant for sports affairs, added that there would be a National Sports Council (KONI) plan set up to inform SEA Games-bound athletes about the dangers of AIDS.

"I have requested the Ministry of Health to send some of its experts on AIDS to inform all the athletes of what they should know about AIDS," he added.

Sujudi was reiterating what Moh. Sarengat, a senior KONI official, suggested over the weekend that preventive measures, such as abstinence, is the best way to avoid AIDS.

Sarengat, one of KONI's deputy chairmen, pointed out that about 80 percent of the prostitutes in Chiang Mai are infected with the deadly disease and that 90 percent of patients in Chiang Mai's hospitals are AIDS patients.

Sujudi said he hoped Thailand would not take his suggestion the wrong way.

He went on to express Indonesia's belief in Thailand's fight against AIDS. (arf)