Bengkulu (ANTARA) – Bengkulu Province Health Service officials noted that 993 Bengkulu residents were infected with the deadly HIV / AIDS virus.
Head of the Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) Division of the Bengkulu Province Health Office, Lisyenti Bahar, said 55 percent of this number were Bengkulu City residents who were dominated by housewives.
“There will be an additional 84 people with HIV / Aids in 2020, bringing the total number of people with HIV / AIDS to 933 patients,” said Lisyenti, Wednesday.
He said of this number, 324 patients regularly take medication and undergo treatment at health services and 263 others are within the reach of the Bengkulu National Care Foundation Community (Pesona).
“Most of them are mothers who are infected through their husbands. Some have backgrounds as commercial sex workers, LGBT people or drug users,” said the Chairperson of the Pesona Bengkulu Foundation, Rinto Harahap.
Rinto explained that the virus is mostly transmitted through sexual contact, sharing needles and blood transfusions.
Pesona has worked with the Social Service and the Health Service to reach 263 PLWHA and ensure access to medicines for them.
Medicines that are taken every day are provided by the government for free and are distributed through the Health Office.
In an effort to reduce the potential for HIV / AIDS transmission in Bengkulu City, Pesona is aggressively conducting guidance and dissemination of the dangers of HIV / AIDS among students and the general public.
“Free and routine HIV / AIDS testing is an effort to reduce the potential for HIV / AIDS transmission in Bengkulu City,” said Rinto.
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