TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The number of people infected with HIV/ AIDS in Jakarta continues to rise each year. In 2013, 24,807 people have been found to be HIV positive and 6,973 people have AIDS, up from last year’s number of 20,000 infected people.
DKI Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said on Tuesday that the public should be aware of this pandemic and take a HIV/AIDS test in order to detect the disease early on.
Unfortunately, data shows that many still do not understand the dangers of HIV/ AIDS and how it is spread among humans.
"Especially the lower class," said Basuki.
Free sex is the cause of half of those infected. Therefore, sex workers and their clients are the people most prone to being infected with the deadly virus. Moreover, clients or sex workers with families have the potential to infect their wives and even children with the disease.
Data from 2009 revealed there were 10,000 cases of HIV and 3,000 cases of AIDS in the capital city. This number doubled by 2012 to 21,000 cases of HIV and 6,000 cases of AIDS.
SYAILENDRA
