Eleven more AIDS cases detected

JAKARTA (JP): Eleven more people with HIV were identified last month, bringing the total number to 401 nationwide, a health official said on Wednesday.

Of the 11 new cases, eight of the people tested positive for HIV and the other three have full-blown AIDS, according to the Director General of Communicable Disease Control, Hadi M. Abednego.

He said all the new HIV-positive people are women living in South Sumatra.

The women brought the total number of people with HIV/AIDS to 29 in South Sumatra. The province now has the fifth highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.

Jakarta still tops the list with 139 HIV and AIDS cases, Irian Jaya comes second with 102, Bali and East Java each have 33 and Riau has 29 carriers.

Hadi said all eleven women are Indonesians. Two of the people with AIDS are Jakartans, and the other is from West Java. The data showed they were all heterosexual.

"Even though HIV/AIDS cases have been found in only 15 (of Indonesia's 27) provinces, it doesn't mean other provinces are free from the disease," Hadi stressed.

"We assume there are HIV and AIDS cases in every province; it's just a matter of time before they are detected," he said.

HIV/AIDS has not yet been found in Aceh, Bengkulu, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, East Timor, Jambi, Lampung, North Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.

The ministry receives regular reports from the provinces on their monitoring of HIV and AIDS.

Of the 99 people recorded to have full-blown AIDS in Indonesia, 22 are foreigners. Sixty one have died. (31)