Lebak Banten Confirm 12 New Cases Of HIV/AIDS

BANTEN - The Lebak District Health Office found new cases of HIV/AIDS in 12 people based on reports from a number of hospitals in the Banten Province area.

"We ask all people with HIV/AIDS to seek regular treatment at the hospital," said Head of the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Environmental Restruction of the Lebak District Health Office, Firman Rahmatullah, in Lebak, Banten, Thursday, July 7.

The local district government is optimizing socialization and education to the public to prevent the spread of the infectious disease.

The number of findings of these cases, he said, was relatively small because it was estimated that many had not been recorded. HIV/AIDS cases are like an iceberg phenomenon which means that only a few are visible on the surface, while most are not recorded. He said the spread of the disease was more due to the risk of heterosexual behavior.

On that occasion, based on an Antara report, Firman said about the target of optimizing the handling of patients in the local area and the total number of those who are so far serious is routinely undergoing treatment. The total number of local residents is 1.2 million people.

He also mentioned that most people with HIV/AIDS in the local area still have low awareness that they are at risk of contracting the disease to check their health.

The spread of the disease, he said, was partly due to free sex, the use of syringes or blood transfusions from patients and positive mothers who were breastfeeding their babies.

He said that the distribution of sufferers is not only in big cities in Lebak, but has also penetrated this remote village in the southern area of Banten.

This, he said, was because many rural residents worked in the city and were affected by the behavior of living at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

"We ask residents to check their health, especially for people with a risky lifestyle (infected by HIVAIDS, ed.)," he said.