Prostitutes tested for STDs

Prostitutes tested for STDs

DILI, East Timor: About 750 prostitutes working here have been tested for sexually transmitted diseases, including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

They assembled in the hall of the Dili regency government offices last weekend where five doctors were ready to take blood samples from them.

Many prostitutes said they were scared by the prospect that they would test positive for the dreaded Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.

"My pimp forced me to come and have the medical check -- otherwise she would have expelled me," a 24 year-old bar girl from Java said.

Prostitution is becoming a social problem in this predominantly Catholic territory, which was integrated into Indonesia in 1976. Most of the prostitutes here have come from Java. (yac/pan)