Prostitute tests positive for AIDS in East Timor

Prostitute tests positive for AIDS in East Timor

By Lourenco Vicente Martins

DILI, East Timor (JP): Fears of an AIDS crisis are growing in
this waterfront town after official tests revealed a prostitute
had contracted the syndrome.

The woman from East Java was one of the approximately 360
prostitutes tested here late last year for the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by health officials.

Prostitution has mushroomed across this predominantly Roman
Catholic province in the last few years because of the backing of
corrupt military officials, observers believe.

The finding, which came as a surprise to many, makes East
Timor the 19th of Indonesia's 27 provinces where HIV/AIDS cases
have been officially confirmed.

It took the number of Indonesians infected with HIV/AIDS by
the end of last year to 501, according to Ministry of Health
statistics released last month.

Local officials said the infected prostitute, who has been
sent back to her hometown of Bojonegoro, had worked in East
Timor's Caicoli district for three months.

"Every day she served five men whom she charged Rp 15,000
(US$6.3) each," an official told The Jakarta Post.

Non-governmental organization activists put the actual number
of HIV-infected people between 50 and 100.

Yoseph G. Lema, a local AIDS observer who won the 1995
national writing contest on the syndrome, says the official
figures lack credibility and he has proposed an independent
survey.

"Not all prostitutes have undergone proper testing," he says.
"Besides, prostitutes keep coming and going and prostitution is
not the only cause of the spread of HIV."

According to Director General for the Control of
Communicable Diseases Hadi M. Abednego, 411 of the 501 affected
contracted the virus through sexual intercourse, both
heterosexual and homosexual. The rest became infected through
sharing syringes, blood transfusions or from their infected
mothers.

Prostitution and the problem of HIV/AIDS in East Timor has
caused great concern to the diocese of Dili's Commission on Peace
and Justice.

Commission deputy chief Florentino C. Sarmento said that as
far as many East Timorese were concerned, Jakarta deals only with
political matters and overlooks social issues such as the danger
of AIDS.

"Apparently, AIDS is considered trivial although it can take
an enormous toll on a great number of people," he said.

Florentino said that although most East Timorese strongly
reject it, prostitution would remain because certain powerful
local government figures sanction its presence.

Brothels, which are officially banned, are commonplace in many
areas, particularly the eastern suburb of Metiaut; Caicoli,
Bairopite and Comoro in west Dili.

In response to the flourishing sex trade in the former
Portuguese colony, the local government is waging a campaign
aimed at encouraging brothel patrons to use condoms.

Provincial health office chief Samuel Munaiseche acknowledges
that the contraceptive is not 100 percent safe but stresses the
campaign is meant to remind people of the menace of AIDS.

"The best way would be to stay away from brothels and not be
promiscuous," he said.

Samuel has also sent letters to brothels, telling managers
that a prostitute has tested positive for AIDS and calling on sex
workers to have their blood tested regularly for HIV.

Long before the AIDS case was found, the local government had
established an AIDS Control Commission, involving officials from
the governor down to district chiefs.

It is an open secret that many of the commission members are
still unsure about what they are supposed to do.