No sex at Chiang Mai Games, please!: Azwar

No sex at Chiang Mai Games, please!: Azwar

JAKARTA (JP): A senior government official advised the entire Indonesian sports team yesterday to refrain from sexual activities during their stays in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the 18th Southeast Asian Games.

"To all athletes, official and reporters, I say, please have no sex there," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas said. He was speaking to reporters after meeting with President Soeharto at the State Palace yesterday.

Azwar also said that the use of condoms should not be encouraged because they are not as safe as most people think.

The pores of latex, the elastic material from which condoms are made, are 0.016 microns in diameter, while that of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes the dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is 0.004. Condoms cannot give full protection.

Azwar further warned that statistics show that HIV infects 74 of 100 people who use condoms anyway, Azwar said.

"Let alone, if you are in hurry, you may not take time to use a condom. Condom-use campaigns are only meant for family planning," he added.

Chiang Mai, the venue of the games which will be held from Dec. 9 to Dec. 17, has had a very high AIDS prevalence rate for six years. The games are held every two years.

Moh. Sarengat, one of KONI's deputy chairmen, pointed out that about 80 percent of the prostitutes in Chiang Mai are infected with the deadly virus and that 90 percent of the patients in Chiang Mai's hospitals are AIDS patients. (arf)