US pledges US$8 million for AIDS in RI

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (Antara): The US government will allocate US$8 million dollars per year to help Indonesia deal with HIV/AIDS, a press statement from the US embassy said Friday.

The statement said that the money would be allocated for HIV/AIDS programs in 79 priority regencies in seven provinces -- Papua, North Sumatra, East Java, Jakarta, Riau Islands, West Java and Central Java.

According to the statement, the money is part of the president's emergency fund for dealing with AIDS both through preventive action, such as behavioral change, and providing medication and services to infected people.

Indonesia has around 210.000 HIV/AIDS cases, according to official figures, with 5,500 having died of AIDS so far.