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The East Kalimantan AIDS Commission
(KPAD) reports that 2012 HIV/AIDS prevalence is 20 times higher in the province
now than in 2003. KPAD’s secretary Junanto attributes the rapid rise in
HIV/AIDS incidence to increased prostitution resulting from affluence created
by mining, plantations, and oil and gas industry success.
The province, which had 170
HIV-infected residents in 2003, reported 3,471 HIV/AIDS cases in 2012. The
ratio of AIDS to HIV cases in 2012 was 776 to 2,695; 404 AIDS patients died in
2012. Almost half of HIV-infected people in the province are housewives, and
another 37 percent are workers. Groups with lower HIV rates include farmers and
laborers (7.3 percent), civil servants (6.2 percent), university students (3.1
percent), and high school students (2.1 percent).
Almost three quarters of
HIV-infected people (73 percent) in the province are between the ages of 29 and
49, and 20 percent of HIV-infected people are between the ages of 20 and 24,
according to 2012 East Kalimantan Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) data.
VCT reports that 3 percent of HIV-infected people are aged 50 years and over.
Children under four and teens ages 15 to 19 comprise 1 percent of HIV/AIDS
cases.
VCT, which is available in 10
hospitals and 17 community health centers in East Kalimantan, is the sole
facilitator in the AIDS control program. Junanto urged other public
agencies—schools, youth and sports agency, and the National Family Planning
Coordinating Board—to participate in a coordinated HIV awareness and prevention
campaign. Eli Hasan, program manager for Lara’s Foundation, recommended that
the government use “social institutions” to reach housewives since they have
the highest risk of HIV.
Junanto estimated the province has
20,000 prostitutes in 80 red light districts.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
