RI queries AIDS-free certificate

RI queries AIDS-free certificate

JAKARTA (JP): An Irian Jaya health official says he doubts the
validity of AIDS-free certificates Thailand has issued to its
fishermen working in Indonesia.

Antara quoted Dr. Gunawan of the Ministry of Health's
provincial office as saying in Jayapura yesterday that his office
had found Thai fishermen who either had AIDS or were HIV-
positive, despite having just come from Thailand and possessing
the certificates.

A team from Gunawan's office made the discoveries after taking
blood samples from Thai fishermen working in fishery companies in
the Merauke regency.

"This is why we'll continue testing their blood, despite the
certificates," Gunawan said.

According to official statistics, the number of people with
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in Irian Jaya is 21, while 97
others have tested positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the
virus that leads to AIDS. The total number of people with
AIDS/HIV in Indonesia was 501 in January.

Adrie Kaleb, the spokesman for a fishing company in Merauke,
said the firm's foreign employees had to undergo thorough medical
examinations at the Mahachey Hospital in Bangkok before being
employed.

Adrie also said that in 1996 his company stopped having its
doctors examine fishermen's blood samples because the health
officials insisted that only they had the authority to perform
the examinations.

"We usually send our foreign fishermen home if they're found
to have AIDS," Adrie said. "The problem has been that they
usually complained because, having the certificates, they did not
believe they had AIDS."

According to the news agency, 50 Thai fishermen have been
shipped home because they had AIDS or HIV. (swe)