HIV count rose by 5 in November

HIV count rose by 5 in November

JAKARTA (JP): Five more people in Indonesia tested positive in November for either the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), bringing the official total to 360.

Minister of Population and National Family Planning Board Chairman Haryono Suyono said on Saturday that all of the five new HIV/AIDS cases were detected in Jakarta.

Four of the people concerned tested positive for HIV, while one was found to have developed AIDS, Haryono said during a meeting with Moslem scholars to discuss their role in containing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.

Jakarta continues to have the highest number of reported HIV/AIDS cases, with 123, followed by Irian Jaya with 96, Bali with 33 and Riau and East Java, each with 29. Of the 360 reported cases, 87 have developed AIDS.

Haryono has been heading the government's drive to recruit ulemas to the anti-AIDS campaign.

He dismissed the widely-held view that AIDS is a disease of foreigners or those who have close and frequent contact with them. He said that, while 50 of the 360 HIV/AIDS cases reported in Indonesia were Thai fishermen, the others have been Indonesians. (31)