More sex workers found with HIV

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

A study by the Yogyakarta health office has found that of the 300 commercial sex workers surveyed from September to December 2003, 13 had contracted HIV (human immuno-deficiency virus).

Head of the health office, Dr. Choirul Anwar, said those infected with the virus were scattered throughout several red- light districts in Yogyakarta.

He said the office maintained a policy of discretion in regards their identities.

"If the identity of a person living with HIV is known to public, public condemnation can follow and cause social disturbances. We will not tell the (infected) sex workers, either. We're afraid that under duress, they will run away and even infect other people in retaliation," he said on Saturday.

The office relegated the close supervision of the sex workers to their pimps.

"Without telling them that they are infected with the virus, we have strongly suggested that they use condoms during sex," he said.

Choirul believed that many more sex workers were infected with the virus.

"We estimate that the actual number of those who have contracted HIV in Yogyakarta mayoralty is four times that in the survey," he said.

He added that in the last two years, the number of commercial sex workers who had tested HIV-positive had risen to 20. Seven tested positive in 2002 and 13 in 2003.

"No physical indications are evident, as symptoms generally emerge seven years after infection. It's very dangerous, as they could easily spread the virus without knowing," he said.

The virus has not only spread among commercial sex workers, but also among inmates at Wirogunan prison.

The condition of an inmate who tested positive for HIV on Dec. 16 has deteriorated rapidly, as he did not receive proper care.

Two other prisoners have also tested positive for the virus in the past few months.