HIV/AIDS cases reach 3,000 in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: The number of recorded cases of HIV/AIDS in Bali's capital of Denpasar between 1987 and June 2004 stood at 261, with nine people having died so far, according to Mangku Karmaya, the coordinator of Bali's AIDS prevention information center.

He said on Monday that some 3,000 reported cases had been recorded throughout Bali.

The total number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia is estimated to be between 90,000 and 150,000, he said.

Karmaya said that of the 3,000 cases in Bali, 1,900 had likely contracted HIV/AIDS through sexual intercourse, while the other 1,100 were injecting drug users.

"The HIV/AIDS infection figures in Denpasar should be seen as a kind of concentrated epidemic, judging from the relatively high number of cases," he said.

Erwin Suryadharma of the Denpasar administration said that various efforts had been made to fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, including the holding of seminars. --Antara