West Papua Suffers Highest Rate Of HIV/AIDS

West Papua Suffers Highest Rate Of HIV/AIDS

A December 2 Tempo Interactive report
[ http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2009/12/02/brk,20091202-211504,uk.html ] notes that West Papua continues to suffer the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS. The Indonesian National AIDS Commission said Papua island still holds the highest HIV/AIDS rate - at 2.4 percent - compared to any other regions within the archipelago. Constant Karma head of the commission's office in Papua Province told media representatives (2/12) that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Papua and West Papua Province as of March 2009 was 6,245. Papua province has 4,745 with HIV/AIDS while West Papua has 1,500. Timika, the seat of Mimika Regency where the Freepot McMoran's gold mine complex lies, ranked number four among the cities with highest transmission rate after Bandung (West Java), Jakarta, and Denpasar. Constant said over 90 percent of HIV/AIDS spreadings in the region were transmitted through sexual relations, with male sufferers become the main source of transmission.

(WPAT Comment: The Tempo Interactive report fails to note that prostitution rings, often run by or protected by security authorities, have been an important factor in the transmission of HIV/AIDS in West Papua. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Timika can in part be explained by the large number of non-Papuan workers brought to the site by the Freeport McMoran mine, most of whom are not accompanied by spouses. Freeport's failure to address this problem, a direct consequence of its employment practices entailing migration of non-Papuans to West Papua, is only one aspect of the painful Freeport legacy. The widely noted failure of the Indonesian Government to provide a minimally adequate health infrastructure in West Papua exacerbates the explosion of HIV/AIDS in West Papua.)

ENDS

© Scoop Media