Sixty-nine people in Subang die of HIV/AIDS
Antara News, Monday, October 18, 2010 19:38 WIB
Subang, W Java (ANTARA News) - HIV/AIDS has become a serious threat to public health in Subang district, West Java, because at least 69 HIV/AIDS patients have died over the past nine months.
"We consider HIV/AIDS in the Subang region a serious problem because the death toll has already reached 69," Suwata, a local health worker, said here Monday.
Suwata, coordinator of the HIV/AIDS eradication unit of Subang district`s health office, said the deaths of the HIV/AIDS-infected people had also been caused by other ailments they were suffering from.
Most of the HIV/AIDS deaths had happened in Subang district`s northern coastal areas, he said.
"We have declared those areas as `red` or high-risk spots in terms of the HIV/AIDS disease," he said.
It had been established that most of the HIV/AIDS sufferers in those areas were commerical sex wokers, he said.
Over the past nine months in 2010 alone, a total of 352 HIV/AIDS cases were detected in 13 spots across Subang district, Suwata said.
Among the red areas in Subang district were Patokbeusi, Blanakan, Ciasem, Pamanukan and Cipunagara, he said.
Beside adults, three toddlers were also among the HIV/AIDS sufferers. The infants had been infected by their mothers,
In their efforst to halt the spread of the deadly disease, the district`s health workers conducted such activities as regular blood tests on people in the high-risk groups, he said.
HIV/AIDS has become a serious threat to young Indonesians in many parts of the country.
In Lebak, Banten Province, for instance, there are at least 1,700 HIV/AIDS patients. Eighty-six of them had died, according to Arief Mulyawan, chairman of Banten`s HIV/AIDS Eradication Commission.
"The total number of HIV/AIDS patients in Banten increased from 1,684 to at least 1,700 this year," he said.
The majority of the HIV/AIDS-infected residents was women. However, the final figure would only be known in October, he said.
In addition to sex with multiple partners, the high number of HIV/AIDS patients in Banten was also related with the use of non-sterile syringes among drug users, he said.
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