JAKARTA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Indonesia has dropped a controversial proposal to implant microchips in HIV/AIDS patients in Papua province, a legislator said on Tuesday, after human rights groups slammed the plan. A lawmaker in Papua, which has the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients in Indonesia, last month proposed using implanted microchips to tag HIV/AIDS patients so authorities could monitor them. The proposal prompted an angry response from Papuans and from human rights groups. "We have agreed today to drop it," Komarudin Watubun, a deputy speaker in the local parliament, told Reuters. But he said Papua would go ahead with plans to pass legislation aimed at fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Papua in eastern Indonesia has 5,000 reported cases. The central government, however, estimates there could be as many as 29,000, as partner-swapping rituals in some tribes, as well as poor education about AIDS, lack of condoms and promiscuous behaviour have contributed to the spread of the disease. ($1=11,025 rupiah) (Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Sara Webb and Sugita Katyal)
A farmer collects latex in a rubber plantation at Deli Serdang district of the Indonesia's North Sumatra province December 16, 2008. With tyres accounting for 70 percent of world rubber demand, ...
