Government AIDS figures not realistic, says official

Government AIDS figures not realistic, says official

JAKARTA (JP): A health official has admitted that government
figures on the number of people with AIDS/HIV did not reflect the
reality due to difficulties in obtaining data.

For instance, this month's figure says a total of 706 people
have been infected, but this includes four who were diagnosed in
July, 77 Thai fishermen reported in Irian Jaya but have returned
to their country, and 100 people who have died.

The total of 706 is an accumulated figure from 1987 to July
this year. The monthly increase in the number of people with
AIDS/HIV is routinely submitted in an official report to the
World Health Organization (WHO). It is also used as the basis on
which the government plans its anti-AIDS campaign.

Sigit Priohutomo of the directorate of contagious diseases
control and environmental health at the Ministry of Health said
here yesterday that many cases of AIDS/HIV went undetected
because of poor data gathering methods.

"We realize that we have poor data collection at the
provincial level of the Ministry of Health and at local clinics
and surgeries," he told The Jakarta Post.

All doctors and clinics are obliged to report any HIV/AIDS
cases to the provincial health office. The office is then meant
to investigate whether the cases are really AIDS/HIV or other
illnesses.

However, not all provincial health offices have adequate
equipment and skilled personnel to carry out the tasks, Sigit
added.

Another obstacle is that doctors often fail to report new
cases because they feel bound by doctor-patient confidentiality,
Sigit said. He added doctors were sometimes reluctant to report
severe cases of AIDS because the patients were dying anyway.

Many experts and activists campaigning against the spread of
the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have often said that the actual
number of people with the conditions could be 100 times higher
than the official figures.

Activists at the Pelita Ilmu Foundation estimate that the
number of people with AIDS/HIV exceeded 20,000.

Retno Windrati of Pelita Ilmu said the stigma attached to the
illness was the reason why many people with AIDS chose to hide
their condition.

"It's so easy for people to blame them and think that they got
the disease because of their own actions," he said.

Samsuridjal Djauzi of Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital
believed that the figure of people living with AIDS/HIV could
already be 100,000 and that more people were under threat of
developing the conditions.

He said it was understandable that the government could
provide only limited or even inaccurate data as it was "safer" to
do so.

"AIDS/HIV are very expensive illnesses and if we only have a
small number of cases then we'll have to spend less (on
treatment)."

"I'm sure it's not a deliberate act, but we'll learn to
improve the research methods while (the government) tries to get
more funds," he said.

Samsuridjal said that with the U.S. dollar at Rp 8,000, a
person with HIV would need to spend Rp 6 million a month on
prescriptions to prevent the virus from developing into more
serious illnesses. (emf)