Indonesia's HIV package

Wednesday, 13 February 2008, Rachel Cook

Australia's federal government has committed $40 million to fight HIV
in Indonesia.

The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced the renewed Australian
aid package in Perth last week, during his meeting with Indonesian
Foreign Minister, Mr Hassan Wirajuda.

The package, which will be spread out over three years, would mostly
benefit resource-rich Papua, where more than 3,000 people from a
total population of 2.5 million are infected with HIV/AIDS.

The funding has been welcomed by the Burnet Institute, one of
Australia's leading medical research and public health institutes.

"It's an important contribution," Gary Reid, Senior Fellow at the
Burnet Institute's Centre for Harm Reduction told MCV. "It can never
be enough but it is quite a critical contribution."

According to the Burnet Institute, injecting drug users make up
around 50% of Indonesia's AIDS cases, while 40% of cases occur among
heterosexuals. Homosexuals make up the remaining 10% of cases.

Although it's hoped that Australia's contribution will head off a
major epidemic in Indonesia, figures suggest that slowing the rate of
transmission will not be easy.

"The latest [Indonesian] figures for people who are HIV positive from
2006 [is] 193,000 people, so the epidemic is underway." Mr Reid
explained, "And when it moves into the general community, which it
has done in Papua, there is cause for great concern. It is in all 32
provinces of Indonesia. It is one of the largest growing HIV
epidemics in Asia."

Mr Reid said that the Indonesian government was alarmed by increase.

"They are being more proactive and making information more accessible
to the general public."

http://mcv.e-p.net.au/news/indonesias-hiv-package-2576.html