Capital’s highest HIV/AIDS rate in East Jakarta

East Jakarta recorded the highest rate in HIV/AIDS cases in 2011 in the country’s capital, according to a public health commission.

The Jakarta AIDS Management Commission (KPAD) released Tuesday the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Jakarta in 2011, with 5,650 cases recorded in East Jakarta alone, was up by 25.3 percent from the 4,318 cases in 2010.

“East Jakarta contained 28 percent of the total number of HIV/AIDS cases in Jakarta – the highest among other municipalities – followed by West Jakarta with 23 percent, Central Jakarta 20 percent, North Jakarta 14 percent and South Jakarta 15 percent,” commission secretary Rohana Manggala said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Age-wise, the people between the ages of 25 and 44 continued to constitute the majority of people infected with HIV/AIDS in the city. The commission found that this age-group grew by 2-percent to represent 78 percent of the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2011, up from 76 percent in 2010, she said.

People older than 45 years old accounted for 15 percent of the total number of people with HIV/AIDS in the city, a 1-percent drop from 16 percent in 2010, while 2 percent of the total number was controlled by people between 15 and 24 years old, she said.

Babies below 1 year old and infant between 1 to 4 years old controlled 2 percent and 1 percent of the total number of people with HIV/AIDS in Jakarta in 2011, respectively, she said.

“There was an increase in new cases to 1,332 in 2011 from 1,310 in 2010,” said Rohana. (swd/mtq)