Indonesia Launches National Drive to Combat AIDS

On Thursday, Indonesia launched a national campaign to combat HIV/AIDS. "The cabinet meeting decided on the establishment of a national movement to combat AIDS. It is hoped that this movement will attract more public involvement," Health Minister Achmad Suyudi told reporters. Suyudi said the government would provide cheaper drugs for the poor with the disease. In a report last year, the National AIDS Commission estimated 3,856 have died of AIDS in Indonesia between 1987 and 2000. It said HIV infections had risen to alarmingly high levels among drug injectors, with 40 percent of injectors who were undergoing treatment in Jakarta testing positive for HIV in 2001. HIV infection among sex workers and transvestites had also risen sharply. HIV infection among sex workers was especially high in several places, standing at 17 percent in the capital Jakarta and 26 percent in one site in easternmost Papua province.

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