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.