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

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.