JURIST - Hotline: Indonesian plan to track HIV carriers with microchip implants violates human rights

Craig McClure [Executive Director, International AIDS Society]: "The International AIDS Society strongly urges the government of Papua, Indonesia to discard its proposed plans to insert microchips into "sexually aggressive" HIV-positive people in the province. Passing such a law into practice would be an infringement of basic human rights, and will in fact increase the rate of new infections within the province.

Any law that treats people living with HIV as criminals encourages the uncontrolled growth of stigma and discrimination. This in turn causes fear and shame amongst the population, and people become more inclined not to be tested for HIV or admit their positive status, and so avoid seeking treatment and care. As a result, HIV is spread amongst the population at a far more rapid rate than under normal circumstances.

Rather, we encourage the Papua government to seek evidence-based solutions to controlling and managing its HIV epidemic. There is no public health rationale to treating HIV-positive people little better than animals."