JAKARTA, Indonesia - An Indonesian province beleaguered by a spiralling HIV infection rate has scrapped plans to implant microchips in those with full-blown AIDS.
Tuesday's move follows strong opposition from government officials, health workers and human rights activists.
Papua's parliament has now agreed to drop a section of the health development bill that supported the tagging of some HIV patients.
Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and has one of Asia's fastest growing HIV rates, with up to 290,000 infections out of 235 million people.
But Papua, the country's easternmost and poorest province with a population of about two million, has been hardest hit.
Its case rate of almost 61 per 100,000 is 15 times the national average.
