More HIV/AIDS cases reported

More HIV/AIDS cases reported

JAKARTA (JP): Four more people have tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the city, and one new case of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been reported, bringing the total official figure for the capital to 123 people with HIV/AIDS, an official said yesterday.

The deputy head of the City Health Agency, Justin S.H. Simatupang, said the people affected are receiving treatment at the Sulianti Saroso hospital for infectious diseases in Sunter, North Jakarta.

City Health Agency spokeswoman Rita Kusriastuti said she had heard about the newly-identified cases but that her office had not yet received an official report from the Ministry of Health.

Rita said her office did not yet know the identity of the people concerned.

Previously, official statistics for the city put the number of people infected with HIV at 69 and the number of people with AIDS at 49, with 31 deaths from AIDS reported in Jakarta to date. Most of the infections are reported to have occurred through sexual relations.

The new official statistics for the capital -- 73 people with HIV and 50 with AIDS -- compare with 96 cases in Irian Jaya and 33 in Bali. Lower numbers have been reported in several other of Indonesia's 27 provinces. Officials acknowledge that the actual number of infections is almost certainly much greater than those revealed by the statistics that have been compiled.

Indonesia's first AIDS case was diagnosed in Jakarta in 1987.

The city administration has set up a special commission to handle the AIDS epidemic. The commission has created a five-year program to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS which provides for the involvement of both religious figures and students.

The City Health Agency allocated Rp 200 million (US$88,888) for its AIDS prevention program in the 1994/1995 fiscal year and Rp 250 million for the current fiscal year.

The World Bank and USAID have provided the city administration with loans totaling Rp 20 billion and Rp 5 billion respectively for the anti-AIDS programs. The World Bank loans are to be extended over a period of three years, while the USAID loans will be extended over five years.(yns)