At least 16 have died of HIV/AIDS in Puncak Jaya regency, in Papua, and millions more are at risk in the country with the world's highest rate of spread of the disease.

The disease has spread to the country's coastal regencies, including Jayapura, Sorong, Mimika and Merauke.

Mulia General Hospital in Puncak Jaya said as of June 2008 16 carriers had died from complications, including diarrhea, lung damage and vomiting.

"All the victims were of reproductive ages, between 15 and 30, and several of them were junior and senior high-school students. Even worse, one of the victims was a three-year-old child suspected of inheriting the disease from his mother," director of the hospital Nasir Ruki told The Jakarta Post by telephone over the weekend.

"They were in critical condition and were not aware that they were infected when they were admitted to the hospital," he said.

Nasir said the patients had come from remote coastal areas with no access to public transportation.

"The women with HIV/AIDS were infected by their husbands who frequently made trips to the coastal regencies, while the infant victim was infected by his mother, who contracted the disease through her husband," he said.

The hospital is currently treating 42 patients with HIV, many of whom are suspected of having had sex with prostitutes in the coastal regencies, he said.

Nasir said he feared the number of those living with the disease had exceeded government figures as many in remote regencies were unaware of their condition and knew little of about the virus.

It is estimated 4,200 people in Puncak Jaya regency live with the disease, and the figure is expected to increase by 200 percent within the next five years.

Mulia General Hospital is conducting a survey in conjunction with French non-governmental organization Medicine de Monde to gain an accurate estimate of the number of infected.

Nasir said a family of four living with HIV/AIDS in a village had been evicted from their house by locals.

"According to the family's confession, they are seeking another regency where they can live normally without being forced into isolation or discriminated against," he said, adding that health workers and government officials were required to keep secret the identities of those living with HIV/AIDS.

A women's organization in the city has opposed a government-sponsored campaign promoting the role of condoms in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, saying the program is un-Christian and that it encourages sex among the young.

"We oppose the use of condoms because besides their being against Christianity, there is no evidence to suggest the contraceptive device can prevent infection," deputy coordinator of the Papuan Solidarity for Women Rika Kapisa said in a seminar of HIV/AIDS recently.

The group also called on the government to amend a draft bylaw on healthcare regulating the campaign and the use of condoms as a preventative measure.

The group called on the government to provide sex education for elementary and high school students and to close down brothels in the province to prevent the spread of the disease.

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