Officials, public asked to fight AIDS seriously

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the National Commission to Contain the Spread of AIDS, Azwar Anas called on all government officials and the public yesterday to be serious in their efforts to curb the spread of the lethal disease.

"I beg you from the deepest part of my heart not to play with games with the efforts to fight AIDS," he was quoted by Antara as saying at the opening of the national coordinating meeting of the health ministry in Ciloto, West Java.

In developing countries, it costs between US$1,400 and $2,500 to treat an AIDS patient, while in developed countries the cost is as high as $30,000, according to Azwar, who is also Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.

Serious dedication is critical especially since a vaccine for the incurable disease has not been found, while medicine to relieve the pain often tends to reach prohibitive levels, he said.

He called on the meeting to formulate a strategy and devise an information system to strengthen the "family defense system", or how to protect themselves, against AIDS.

As many as 266 people in the country have tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Azwar said. He estimated that the actual number of the HIV infected people could be as high as 100,000.

Most of the cases were found in Jakarta and Irian Jaya.

Eighty five percent of the cases were infected through sexual contact. The others were infected from disposable syringes and blood transfusions.

Minister of Health Sujudi said that people infected with AIDS should use condoms to prevent the spread of the virus to their spouses.

"This does not mean that we encourage the use of condoms as if it were a cure for the disease, but just to prevent the spread of the virus," Sujudi said.

The government is planning a massive campaign with a motto of: Legitimate sexual relationship which is based on love. Organized by the National Family Planning Coordinating Board, the campaign is scheduled to be launched in all 27 provinces at the end of 1995.

Sujudi in his speech also said that the health ministry would increase the number of grass-roots health centers and mobile health centers to provide better service for the public.

On a separate issue, he said that 108 of the 224 pharmaceutical companies have implemented the "standard on good manufacturing practice," 91 others are still in the process of improving the standard, while the rest use the facilities of the other manufacturers to produce the drugs.(sim)