No discrimination in local hospitals
JAKARTA (JP): The city health office will not ask hospitals in Jakarta to provide special isolation rooms for AIDS patients in an effort not to discriminate.
The Deputy Chief of the City Health Office, Aslan Lasman, told The Jakarta Post and Antara yesterday that the city administration has tried to put AIDS prevention in a context which considers AIDS to be a common communicable disease, without treating patients differently.
Aslan said that there is no need to establish special hospitals for AIDS patients since the city administration and the central government have applied an integrated prevention method, which is being carried out by all health related offices in the country.
However, Aslan said that special bedrooms will be provided to all AIDS patients who are in advanced stages or who are dying from various symptoms such as heavy bleeding, infections and diarrhea.
"The reason is because the immune system of AIDS patients is already low and we must protect them from any infections which could occur if they were placed in a common room," Aslan said.
Aslan said that the isolation rooms are also meant to protect other patients and hospital employees from the possible infection from the tuberculosis virus.
Little knowledge
According to Aslan, the city's efforts to prevent AIDS from spreading have also been hampered by health office employers who have little knowledge of the deadly disease or of the standard procedures on how to handle their patients.
He said that the increase in the number of people with AIDS has dramatically increased from three people in 1987 to seven people in 1990 and that the number is on the rise.
"The number keeps increasing. In 1991 there were eight people, 18 people in 1992, 23 people in 1993 and 22 more people as of October this year," he said.
Based on the projection of the health ministry, Aslan said that by the year 2005 there could be up to 400,000 to 800,000 AIDS cases in Indonesia.
Aslan said that Jakarta is especially prone to AIDS because of its high rate of unemployment which tends to force many undereducated women into prostitution, further spreading the virus through sexual intercourse.
He said that the city administration has established a Jakarta AIDS prevention commission. The commission has made many public presentations and AIDS prevention campaigns which target people who are considered to be in the high risks groups, such as prostitutes, homosexuals and transvestites. (mas)