Denpasar, Bali- Bali has won an award for the province with the best handling of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (PIMS) cases in 2022, as the region had succeeded in surpassing targets set by the central government.
“The discovery of HIV/AIDS cases exceeded the national target. Therefore, the acceleration of handling continues to be carried out by the Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) Division of the Bali Provincial Health Service,” Head of the Bali Provincial Health Service, Nyoman Gede Anom, said here on Thursday.
Anom remarked that serious and continued efforts had so far been made to handle HIV/AIDS cases despite testing and field activities being halted for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that four indicators determined Bali’s success in handling HIV/AIDS cases: testing for pregnant women, treatment for HIV/AIDS and syphilis, low HIV case detection, and sound cooperation across sectors and the community.
Head of the P2P Division at the Bali Provincial Health Service, I Wayan Widia, who received the award directly on January 31 from the Ministry of Health, said that the success and teamwork on the field was the reason behind the Bali Provincial Health Service achieving these indicators.
Widia explained that in 2022, HIV/AIDS cases in Bali reached 27,880 spread across Denpasar City, Badung District, and Buleleng.
“Of the three areas with the highest number of cases, the highest (count of) cases were detected through health facilities in Denpasar,” Widia stated.
Widia said the average age of sufferers was in the range of 20-29 years, with a total of 10,162 cases, or 37.9 percent, and 9,594 cases, or 33.6 percent, for those in the age bracket of 30-39 years.
Apart from handling HIV/AIDS cases, the Bali Provincial Health Service highlighted several targets to be achieved in 2023.
“We want to reduce stunting to seven percent. In 2022, Bali recorded a stunting rate of eight percent. Apart from that, we intensively conducted child immunization and the COVID-19 booster vaccination as well,” Widia said.
Source: Antara News