Govt prepares new strategy to tackle HIV/AIDS in Irian Jaya

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is working on new strategies to put a brake on HIV/AIDS cases in the far-flung province of Irian Jaya.

The present strategy has proven ineffective in dealing with the alarming rate of HIV/AIDS in the eastern-most province.

Djoko Prayitno, secretary of the National Committee for AIDS Prevention (KPA Nasional) said on Monday that a new strategy was urgently needed.

The planned strategy has been discussed with the Ministry of Health and is now with the State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary, waiting for approval from President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"As soon as Ibu Mega gives her approval, we will set up a team and go to Irian to disseminate the strategy to the local administration," Djoko said.

According to KPA Nasional, the prevalence of AIDS in the province has reached six in 100,000 persons this year, or 30 times higher than the national prevalence of 0.21 per 100,000.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows that cases of full blown AIDS in Irian Jaya reached 210 in September, the second highest after Jakarta's 239 cases.

HIV cases have been found in 11 out of 13 regencies in Irian Jaya since the first case was found in Merauke in 1992.

The HIV prevalence among female sex workers in the province is the highest in Indonesia at 26.5 percent. Compounding the problem, the virus has now infected indigenous people who live in remote jungle areas.

Djoko said that while normally people with AIDS in other localities can live for between five and 10 years, people in Irian could only survive between two and five years due to inadequate treatment and poor diet.

Experts have identified factors that cause the very high HIV/AIDS prevalence in Irian Jaya such as cultural permissiveness, ignorance and poverty.

Under the new strategy, the government is providing facilities to treat HIV/AIDS patients in Merauke, Sorong, Wamena and Jayapura.

HIV/AIDS victims will have access to a special therapy known as "Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment" (HAART).

The therapy is used to halt the development of the virus. Currently such treatment is only available in Jakarta and Bali.

Health officials say that the treatment is only available in these two places because of the limited number of doctors who can administer the therapy and that it is still very costly.

Apart from providing the therapy, the facilities would also monitor the disease and conduct HIV tests, Djoko said. As of now, the province has limited laboratories to conduct HIV tests.

"To conduct a HIV test, the laboratories send blood samples to Makassar (South Sulawesi) or Jakarta," Djoko added.