UK pledges Rp 420b for AIDS fight in RI

JAKARTA: Britain will give Rp 420 billion (US$45.8 million) to Indonesia for fighting Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) as the world's fourth largest populous nation is already on the brink of a full scale epidemic, the Antara news agency reported.

The British assistance is the first for the Indonesian Partnership Fund for HIV/AIDS - a campaign managed by the government's National AIDS Commission but largely funded by international organizations and foreign governments.

Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) representative in Indonesia Sarah Richards, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Indonesia Bo Asplund and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab signed an agreement in Jakarta regarding the three-year program (2005-2007).

According to the United Nations, there are from 90,000 to 130,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia and statistics show that the disease is spreading rapidly among commercial sex workers, drug addicts and prison populations.

The DFID is a British government agency that manages UK's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty, illiteracy and AIDS. -- JP