Official figures 'understate' Indonesia's HIV crisis
24/06/2008
Government figures profiling HIV prevalence rates in Indonesia do not reflect the true scope of the crisis faced by the country, it has been claimed.
The official number of people living with HIV/Aids in Indonesia currently stands at 17,998, but according to one new report that figure could amount to a colossal understatement.
Antara news agency quoted pre-eminent sociologist Boyke Dian Nugraha as saying that he had seen a report which suggested the true figure lies closer to the 500,000 mark.
He noted that, if true, the figure would place Indonesia on a par with well-recognised south-east Asian hotspots for the disease such as Thailand, where there are currently some 580,000 sufferers.
The World Health Organisation has long known that Indonesia's official rate offers a poor representation of the toll wrought by the disease, itself estimating there to be around 170,000 sufferers.
But the massive half-a-million estimate has sent shockwaves throughout the medical community, with officials now issuing stark warnings that the country appears to be losing the fight.
According to Aburizal Bakrie, co-ordinating minister for people's welfare, the virus is gradually tightening its grip on Indonesia.
"Without adequate intervention, the virus will by 2015 have infected one million people [and] killed 350,000," he warned, adding that 38,500 of new cases would occur among children.
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago - comprised of over 17,508 islands - which makes managing the disease and providing care for remote communities an immensely challenging task.
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