HIV cases up in West Kalimantan

HIV cases up in West Kalimantan

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: The Communicable Diseases Control
Division at the West Kalimantan Health Office announced on
Wednesday that the number of people recorded with HIV in the
province in December last year revealed a sevenfold increase
since the first cases were detected in 1999.

Agus Sunardi, the division chairman, said that as of May this
year, 89 people were found infected with Human Immune Deficiency
Virus (HIV) in the province, eight of them had full-blown
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The first HIV cases
were uncovered among Thai fishermen

Of the province's 10 regencies, only Landak, Sanggau and
Kapuas Hulu remain free from HIV, according to Agus. Most cases
had been found in Sambas, Singkawang and Pontianak.

He said most of the HIV positive people were aged between 15
and 20 years old.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old HIV/AIDS patient in Singkawang
Hospital committed suicide after being hospitalized for 11 days.
The person, whose identity remains secret, used a blanket to hang
themselves in the bathroom of the isolated ward. --Antara