TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - The Yogyakarta AIDS Alleviation Commission (KPA) has prepared a new strategy for combating the increasing rate of AIDS/ HIV infections in Yogyakarta due to its altered method of infection. Previously, the spread of the disease was dominated by intravenous and illegal drugs.
"After 2008, the spread of the disease was dominated by sexual relations, and cases of infected persons drastically rose a year later," said KPA Yogyakarta program manager Ghanis Kristia on Thursday.
Data from the KPA revealed that 2009 was the peak of the soaring amount of those infected with HIV/ AIDS in Yogyakarta with "137 new cases within a year" despite the average infection rate of 50 cases per year. This number continued to rise up until this year. There are currently a total of 618 cases, with an infection rate that increases at an average of 10 to 15 percent per year.
Due to this condition, KPA Yogyakarta has begun to seek other prevention methods to curb the number of those infected with the virus. Aside from holding programs for informing the society and gathering data, the KPA has involved the community in monitoring, serving, and reporting cases starting from this year. Fourteen social groups spread throughout 14 neighborhoods in Yogyakarta were appointed on Thursday to help eradicate the spread of the virus.
PRIBADI WICAKSONO | ARIS ANDRIANTO
