Health officials respond to AIDS threat in Irian Jaya

Markus Mardius, The Jakarta Post, Timika

Some 14 of 168 HIV positive people in Mimika regency, Papua, have contracted the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), according to a local health official.

Erens Meokbun, head of the sexually transmitted diseases section at the local health office, told The Jakarta Post most of those infected with AIDS were women who worked as prostitutes in a red-light district near a foreign mining company in Mimika.

"All 14 of the AIDS patients are continuing to make visits to the public health center and a hospital in the regency," he said.

Erens said that of 154 people in the regency that had tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), almost 80 percent showed symptoms of HIV, while the other 20 percent had syphilis or gonorrhea.

He said half of those who were HIV positive were Papuans, many of them employed by the mining company.

The HIV/AIDS cases were detected thanks to the increasing number of local people visiting the public health center and hospital for medical checkups, Erens said.

"Many people went in for checkups after the local health office launched an AIDS awareness campaign in villages, areas known for prostitution, the mining company and entertainment centers in the regency," he said, adding that many of those with AIDS had contracted the syndrome because of ignorance.

Erens declined to blame the presence of the mining company for the HIV/AIDS cases, but said it had something to do with the presence of job seekers in the area and the sexual habits of Papuan men.

He said his office would continue the AIDS awareness campaign to help prevent the syndrome from spreading.

He said Mimika was ranked second behind Merauke for the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the province.

The total number of people infected with HIV/AIDS nationwide is estimated at about 3,000.

The spread of HIV/AIDS in the province has been partly blamed on the foreign fishermen operating in the area.