559 people living with AIDS died in N. Sumatra in 2011

The North Sumatra Health Agency has recorded about 559 deaths of people living with AIDS in the province last year.

Dr. Chandra Syafei, the agency’s chief, said that the number of deaths was obtained from about 4,300 HIV/AIDS cases in 33 regencies in the province, but the number could be bigger due to the possibility of unrecorded data.

He acknowledged that the agency’s data was not in accordance with data from the Health Ministry, which recorded about 7,059 HIV/AIDS cases in the province.

“There are about 2,759 people living with AIDS who have not been recorded,” he said on Thursday in Medan, North Sumatra, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Chandra added that people with AIDS were usually found in Medan, Pematang Siantar, Deli Serdang, Tanah Karo and Toba Samosir. The agency had coordinated with various relevant organizations to conduct counseling in various regions across the province.(drs)