Health Office warns Against HIV/AIDS

Timika, Dec 21 (ANTARA) - The Papua health office warns against the rapid spread of HIV/AIDs in the province. Head of the provincial health office drg Josef Rinta said HIV/ADIs cases are alarmingly high in Papua and Papua Barat with more than 13,000 people infected by the deadly disease. In the regency of Mimika alone there are 1,800 known cases of HIV/AIDs, Josef said here on Friday. "We have to address this matter seriously. All areas should be aware of the seriousness of the problem," he said. He call on volunteers among paramedics to work in rural areas saying the disease has attacked not only urban areas but also rural areas. The people in rural areas need to be made aware of the dangerous threat from HIV/AIDs virus, he said. Earlier, the Yayasan Peduli AIDS Timika (YPAT) said the number of HIV/AIDs victims in Mimika, Papua is feared to continue to increase in the coming years. Father Bert Hagendoorn OFM, the director of the foundation, which helps treat HIV/AIDs victims in the area, said the number of HIV/AIDs cases in Mimika has increased at a high rate . The number of victims is expected to increase with the high mobility of people in Mimika and growing number of new residents in Timika, Father Hagendoorn said . "The number of visitors to Timika and or new residents in the city grew fast and they are not aware of the existence of the disease in Timika," he told ANTARA news agency. According to data from the AIDs Control Commission (KPA) of Mimika, in 2012 alone there were 367 new HIV/AIDs cases in the regency of Mimika. The number of HIV/AIDs cases since the first time the disease was found in the regency in 1996, has continued to increase reaching 3,190 by September this year. In the April-September period in 2012 , there were an additional cases of 239 or an average of 39 cases per month. Sexual intercourse accounted for 236 of the new case in Mimika.