"Women or housewives are vulnerable to HIV. In fact, quite a few pregnant women have tested positive for the yet incurable disease," the chief of the commission, Achmad Fahmi said here on Wednesday.
The pregnant women tested positive for HIV while having medical checkups at pregnancy checkup service posts and voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) facilities at hospitals.
Fahmi, who is also deputy Sukabumi mayor said HIV transmission has affected not only commercial sex workers but also housewives through their infected husbands.
According to data issued by the city health office last year, 51 housewives in Sukabumi lived with HIV, he said.
To prevent the spread of HIV in the city, local residents should shun activities which make them highly vulnerable to HIV infection, and have routine medical checkups, he said.
"We should not rule out the possibility that the number of HIV-infected housewives particularly pregnant women will continue to increase," he said.
He said the commission has formulated a program to save the babies of HIV-positive pregnant women.
To date, 1,035 residents in Sukabumi live with HIV/AIDS, with housewives remaining atop the number of HIV/AIDS-infected persons, followed by commercial sex workers.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
