IT SOUNDS like a notion from a science-fiction film.
The provincial legislative council of Papua, Indonesia, is set to pass a bylaw on HIV/Aids that requires certain sufferers living with the disease to be implanted with a microchip, so their movements can be monitored.
"This will violate the rights of people living with HIV/Aids," said Mr Constan Karma, executive director of the Papua Aids Commission (KPAD).
Councillor John Manangsang said the microchips would be implanted only in HIV patients who were deemed to be "aggressive".
"Aggressive means actively seeking sexual intercourse. This is one way to protect healthy people," he said.
"Do not misunderstand human rights; if we respect the rights of the people living with HIV/Aids, then we must also respect the rights of healthy people."
He said the public should judge the bylaw draft as a whole rather than by its constituent articles.
"The draft, for example, requires everyone to take HIV/Aids tests so that preventative measures can be taken early," he said.
"I am a doctor, saving lives is my profession. If we want to save the limited number of Papuans, we have to take real action because 47 per cent of the country's HIV/Aids cases are in Papua."
Papua is the largest province of Indonesia and comprises the larger part of the western half of the island of New Guinea.
The 40-article-long bylaw also stipulates that the KPAD executive director should be a physician who understands epidemiology.
A liaison officer of the West Papua chapter of the NGO Save Papua, Mr Gunawan, said he disagreed with the bylaw.
"People with HIV/Aids do not always have sex, especially those with full-blown Aids," he said. "And how do you measure aggressiveness?"
Mr Gunawan said Indonesia would be the worst human-rights violator if the implant plan was passed.
Ms Enita Rouw, coordinator of the Papua branch of the Indonesian Network of People Infected with HIV, said incidences of discrimination against people with HIV/Aids had declined.
"However, the stigmatisation is still there," she said. "So please don't use microchips. We're humans, not animals."
The number of people living with HIV/Aids in Papua is increasing, with 319 new cases reported as of October this year, taking the total to 4,114 reported cases.
