E. Java ranks the 5th in AIDS

E. Java ranks the 5th in AIDS

SURABAYA, East Java: The province of East Java has had the fifth highest increase in the transmission of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), following Irian Jaya, Riau, Yogyakarta and South Sumatra.

Alex Amirullah, assistant to the East Java governor on socio- economic affairs, revealed on Monday that up to March 2001, the number of local people infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), had reached 197, 30 of whom were afflicted by full- blown AIDS while a further 26 had died.

"The number of Indonesian people affected by HIV this year is estimated to reach between 80,000 and 120,000," he said in the opening ceremony of the second phase of specialized training for social workers, which included two training experts from Australia, on Monday.

By the end of 2000, the national figure of HIV/AIDS cases had reached more than 2,300 while the world figure is some 36.1 million.

Alex said the main factors that had contributed to the fast transmission of HIV included high-risk sexual behavior, the sex industry and the high level of migration and poverty.

He explained that the provincial administration had yet to be able to detect the illegal use of narcotics and other addictive drugs because of the absence of an accurate inventory system. -- Antara