No province free from HIV

BANDUNG: No Indonesian province is now free from HIV infection, with the recorded number of people living with the virus in the country standing at 7,098.

Head of the HIV/AIDS Eradication Commission Alwi Shihab said on Wednesday the commission had remained unable to significantly curb the growth rate of HIV infections one year after its reinstatement.

"Indonesia is among one of the countries with the fastest growth of people infected with the virus thanks to the widespread use of shared needles. No province here is free from the virus," said Alwi, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare.

He was chairing a coordination meeting of national drive against HIV/AIDS.

The commission recorded that 6,050 people were known to have been infected last year, although its estimate of the actual number of people who had the virus was far higher, at 150,000.

Alwi said nearly 80 percent of the people infected were at their productive age of between 20 and 39 years old. Most people with HIV/AIDS lived in disadvantaged provinces. -- JP