Officials suggest HIV test for Sea Games athletes

Officials suggest HIV test for Sea Games athletes

JAKARTA (JP): A senior sports official of the National Sports
Council (KONI) suggested yesterday that all Indonesian athletes
to be sent to the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, be tested for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
before and after the Games.

That might be a good way of warning them about the danger of
contracting HIV, given that about 80 percent of the prostitutes
in Chiang Mai are infected with the Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS), says Sarengat, KONI's deputy training director.

The 55-year-old Sarengat, a general practitioner in the Army,
said he was informed of the high prevalence of AIDS in the
mountainous region of northern Thailand by his colleague Hudiono,
who visited Chiang Mai last September. Ninety percent of patients
in Chiang Mai's hospitals are AIDS patients, Sarengat added.

However, if his suggestion were taken, Sarengat said, he was
afraid it might give the impression that Indonesian athletes are
morally loose.

Another problem is that testing athletes for HIV would mean an
additional financial burden for KONI, he added.

Sarengat was commenting on reports that a senior Filipino
sports official denounced on Thursday press reports suggesting
that the Filipino government planned to equip the country's
Southeast Asian Games contingent with condoms to protect them
from AIDS.

Preventive measures are the best way for athletes to counter
AIDS, according to Sarengat. This means refraining from having
sex while staying there for the Games, which are slated for Dec.
9 to Dec. 17, even though the Games' organizing committee will
make condoms available to athletes.

Sarengat said KONI has tried to make athletes fully aware of
the danger of AIDS through its coaches and officials.

However, the final decision rests with the athletes, said
Sarengat, who was a private physician for two former Indonesian
vice presidents.

"Even though they are given condoms, can you guarantee that
they will use them? If they think that condoms are not
comfortable and, so, prefer to have it bare, who knows?" said the
former KONI secretary-general. (arf)