WEST SUMATRA TO OBSERVE WORLD AIDS DAY

Padang, W Sumatra, Dec 6 (ANTARA) - The West Sumatra provincial administration will observe World Aids Day here on Sunday, December 7, 2008, public relations chief Suhermanto Raza said here on Saturday.
He said the peak event of the World Aids Day in the province would be mass gymnastic exercises and a long march participated in by local people and government officials.
According to Suhermanto, the observance of World Aids Day was expected to improve the local people's awareness about the HIV/AIDS threat and the need to take preventive measures.
According to data from the local health office, 427 HIV/AIDS cases occurred in West Sumatra between 1992 and September this year.
Suhermanto said HIV/AIDS was a global issue because more than 40 million people around the world had been infected with HIV/AIDS, and no province in Indonesia was free from the disease.
Based on official data from the Health Ministry, Indonesia, with a population of more than 230 million, had a total of 18,963 people living with HIV and 6,277 others with AIDS.