Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
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June 20, 2007

HIV Spreading at Rapid Rate in Indonesia's Papua Province
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17E236B:A6F02AD83191E160A92747B14F174C4A9574F7DCC14957C0 According to the
latest AIDS report, about 40,000 people out of a population of over
two million are infected with HIV New figures show HIV in Indonesia's
remote Papua province is spreading at a rate of 15 times that of the
national average and is now in the general population, not just in
high risk groups. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins in Jakarta has more on a
new report by Indonesia's National Aids Commission.







Papuanese men in tribal dress dance during culture festival in
Jayapura, Papua province (File photo)The Indonesian minister of
welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, says the new report shows the incidence of
HIV and AIDS is increasing sharply in Papua, one of Indonesia's
poorest provinces.

He says the report should be taken as a big warning to the government,
which needs to make a cohesive effort to handle the spread of the
disease.

The report, which was funded by the World Bank, the U.S. government,
and U.S. nonprofit Family Health International, found nearly half of
the residents of Papua had never heard of HIV/AIDS.

This is not surprising as Papua province lies on a remote, mountainous
island with little infrastructure and few schools and hospitals. Many
people do not have access to television or radio, which makes it hard
to obtain health care information.

The report recommended that more money be spent on education programs
and on making condoms readily available to help stop the spread of the
disease.

The report said the very low level of condom use in Papua was linked
to availability. Only about 17 percent of the people in Papua say it
is easy to get condoms, which can help protect people from sexually
transmitted diseases.

Nafsiah Mboi, the chairwoman of Papua Task Force on the National AIDS
Commission, says AIDS education programs must be taken to remote
communities.

She says efforts must be made to educate people on risky behavior
along with community-based health awareness programs.

The government estimates nearly 200,000 people are living with
HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, which has a population of around 225 million.
According to the latest AIDS report, about 40,000 of those with HIV
are in Papua, which has a population of just over two million.


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