HIV/AIDS hits closer to home in Jambi
Written by Writer on Friday, October 24th, 2008
HIV/AIDS hits closer to home in Jambi
Jon Afrizal , The Jakarta Post , Jambi | Fri, 10/24/2008 1:32 PM | The Archipelago
Fears are rife in Jambi city that an HIV/AIDS epidemic there is on the rise, with recent reports showing the disease has spread from drug users and sex workers to house wives and infants, authorities say.
Head of direct contagious disease control at the Jambi Provincial Health Agency K Mukhsin said three infants had died from AIDS in Jambi so far this year.
He said the three children had died after receiving treatment at Raden Mattaher General Hospital in Jambi.
“Those children were infected by the virus through their parents. Our conjecture is that the virus may have been passed through their mothers’ breast milk,” he said.
He also said three housewives in the city were currently receiving treatment for AIDS.
“We think their husbands passed the virus to them,” Mukhsin said, adding that it was likely the husbands had had sex with other women or had taken drugs using unsterilized needles.
He said the agency had drawn up a map showing the spread of the disease over the course of the year based on all reported cases.
In 2007, the agency took blood samples from 664 people in high risk areas, including red-light districts, penitentiaries, massage parlors, beauty salons, saunas and boarding houses.
The survey found that eight people had AIDS, and a further 18 were infected with HIV.
Of those, ten contracted the disease through unsterilized needles, and the rest through unprotected sexual intercourse.
“They (who were infected) are of productive age, between 20 and 40 years old,” Mukhsin said, adding that a similar survey conducted in 2006 survey found six people with AIDS and 18 with HIV.
Mukhsin said the finding revealed just the tip of the iceberg, and that there were many more people living with AIDS who had not been discovered.
He said drug users who shared needles were particularly prone to infection.
However, he said the transmission of the disease through sexual intercourse could be prevented by using a condom.
Mukhsin said the virus could only be transmitted via blood, sperm, vaginal fluids and breast milk.
He said the agency, in cooperation with NGOs in Jambi, had conducted an AIDS awareness campaign in town in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease and to inform about available treatments.
“The activities are aimed at stopping the spread of the disease,” Mukhsin said.
