•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

To curb the escalating number of HIV/AIDS infections among young people, the government should not only pay more attention to the issue but also provide more funding to battle the spread of the disease, public health students urged on Tuesday.

Dozens of students from universities around the country handed a petition to Vice President Boediono at his office on Tuesday. The petition noted that almost half of people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia were between 20 and 29 years of age.

Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono, who accompanied the students, said that of the 46,702 people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, 49.57 percent were between the ages of 20 to 29.

“We want the government to allocate a sufficient budget to overcome AIDS and HIV,” one of the student representatives said, adding that they also wanted HIV/AIDS information added to the country’s school curricula.

Agung said more funds should be set aside in national and regional budgets to enhance efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Responding to the demands, Boediono said that “in the future, we will increase both the national and regional budgets” for HIV/AIDS prevention, although he did not give a figure.

Boediono said fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS was one of the government’s priorities in its Millennium Development Goals. “It needs a comprehensive effort from all people,” he said.

Ahmad Heryawan, the governor of West Java, the province with the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases, was quoted by state-run news agency Antara as saying his administration was doubling its budget for HIV/AIDS to Rp 5.5 billion ($583,000) next year.