People with HIV/AIDS to receive medicines

JAMBI: In anticipation of the rise in the number of people with HIV/AIDS and the Health Ministry's late delivery of anti-retroviral medicines, the Jambi administration will provide the needed medicines, said an official at the provincial Health Agency.

The agency's head of disease prevention and control division Azwar Djauhari said the administration had allocated Rp 50 million in its 2010 budget for the purchase of the medicines.

"It's an urgent matter as medicines for people with HIV/AIDS have to be consumed exactly as scheduled," Azwar said.

The agency, he said, recorded 90 people with HIV/AIDS in 2009, 70 of whom were found AIDS positive, a significant increase from 41 last year. - JP