T

he spread of HIV infections in Papua is alarming, with those in remote regions being deprived of transportation facilities reported to have contracted the disease.

“Two years ago I received information that people with HIV had been found in Puncak regency. It was proof that the disease had already reached villages difficult to reach by modes of transportation,” Constant Karma, chairman of Papua AIDS Mitigation Commission (KPAD), said during the launch of an anti-AIDS campaign in Jayapura on Friday.

He said that transmission of the HIV virus looked to be uncontrollable as his commission had constantly received reports of new cases.

As many as 21 people, between the ages of 19 and 49, were reported to have been treated for the virus at Dian Harapan Hospital in Jayapura in June, in addition to 84 cases recorded between January and May.

“The same period last year, we had 56 cases. That’s an indication that HIV cases are increasing rapidly,” Bruder Agus Adil, head of the hospital’s Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT), said.

HIV spread in Papua, according to Constant, is transmitted through unsafe sexual intercourse, which constitutes 90 percent of the current 12,187 cases.