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Indonesia will fall well short of HIV/AIDS prevention targets due to budget constraints and the lack of resources to cover the vast archipelago, the National AIDS Commission said on Tuesday.

Nafsiah Mboi, the secretary of the commission, also known as the KPA, said the 2010 target for 80 percent coverage for nationwide prevention programs in high-risk communities was unrealistic. She made the remarks at a news conference announcing the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific to be held in Bali in August.

“Honestly, based on what we’ve achieved and the limited resources we have, there’s no way we can achieve an 80 percent coverage of HIV/AIDS prevention by 2010,” she said, citing the fact that the country’s awareness and prevention campaigns had so far reached only 15 percent of the 40 percent of prostitutes targeted in 2008.

“2010 is only few months away and we’re still lagging far behind,” she said.

With hard work and sufficient funding, Nafsiah said the target could be reached by 2011.

Nafsiah said Indonesia had experienced a significant increase in HIV/AIDS cases through sexual activity, although intravenous drug use still accounted for the lion’s share of transmissions.

“It’s very difficult and very frustrating trying to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS through unsafe sex,” she said, pointing out that the low status of women hampered efforts at prevention because they were often not in a position to ask their partners to wear condoms.

“Millions of women are exposed only because their husbands pay regular visits to the red-light districts or use unsterile needles while injecting drugs.”

Budi Rissetya Budi Dharma Ady, coordinator of the Indonesian Drug Users Council, said total reform was needed in how drug users were treated.

“Although the government is now providing sterile needles and methadone therapy, as long as drug users are still criminalized nobody will undergo the treatment,” he said, adding that the best way to stop people from using drugs was to treat them as patients instead of criminals.

“We’re basically just victims, we need professional help and prison is not the answer.”

The international congress in Bali aims to promote public education about HIV/AIDS and to boost awareness of the issue.