Children have a high likelihood of being HIV-positive since the majority of mother-to-infant infections occur when the infants are still in the womb or during labor, an official from the office, Dwi Oktavia, said during a discussion on HIV/AIDS in children here on Thursday.
Hence, a health examination must be conducted at least once during the pregnancy period, she added.
Couples planning to wed can also be screened for diseases such as syphilis, HIV, and Hepatitis B. Such health examinations can be conducted at public health centers (puskesmas) free of charge, she informed.
Other efforts to prevent HIV infections include improving people's role and awareness as well as monitoring pregnant women and analyzing infant data.
Prevention activities can also be undertaken up to the case handling stage, namely for pregnant to breastfeeding women infected with HIV, syphilis, or Hepatitis B.
As per the Jakarta Health Office’s records, residents' awareness of carrying out HIV tests every year is quite high, with around 400 thousand tests conducted on average.
However, the figure must not be used as a basis for HIV cases, Oktavia said.
This is because the number of known cases represents only the “tip of the iceberg” as there are many people who have not taken the test.
According to data from the Health Ministry's HIV-AIDS Information System, the number of HIV tests conducted in Jakarta reached 483,720 in 2019, 408,099 in 2020, and 456,075 in 2021.
Of this figure, the number of people with HIV (ODHIV) in Jakarta reached 6,882 in 2019, 4,945 in 2020, and 4,376 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of children with new HIV, namely those under the age of four years, was recorded to reach 106 in 2018, 73 in 2019, 35 in 2020, and 39 in 2021.
Based on cumulative cases or HIV cascade data as of June 2022, the number of ODHIV in Jakarta is estimated to be 65,916, Oktavia informed.
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Translator: Dewa Ketut S W, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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