Indonesia’s East Java Province Lacks Sufficient Funds To Address HIV, Malaria, TB
Indonesia's East Java province does not have sufficient funds for efforts to control HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases, the Jakarta Post reports. Anrasul Fahrudda, head of contagious diseases at the East Java Health Agency, said that although the region received financial assistance from international groups, it never received funding from the state budget to curb the spread of these diseases. According to Anrasul, East Java's government for fiscal year 2009 has allocated 1.3 billion Indonesian rupiah, or about $111,000, for HIV/AIDS; 250 million Indonesian rupiah, or about $21,400, for TB; and 200 million Indonesian rupiah, or about $17,140, for malaria efforts.
According to Anrasul, East Java has the fourth highest prevalence of major contagious diseases in Indonesia. East Java's southern coast is a particularly high-transmission area for malaria, and TB remains prevalent in all 38 regencies and municipalities in the province, he said. Budi Rahaju, head of contagious disease control and health matters at the health agency, said the provincial government maintains a specialized TB hospital and organizes "special training for health workers from all public health centers in the province to improve their ability to conduct microscopic examinations for TB."
According to Rahaju, East Java has a high HIV/AIDS mortality rate because some people fear discrimination and social alienation if they take an HIV test. She said the government provides no-cost medication for HIV-positive people, adding that the disease is "no longer an immediate death sentence, and even those in the early stages can live a long life and treat their illness with regular medication" (Jayakarna, Jakarta Post, 2/4).
