Proposal to microchip people with HIV/AIDS

Papua, Indonesia reportedly may become the first area in the world to mandate people with HIV/AIDS have microchips implanted in their bodies so that their behavior can be monitored in a bid to keep them from passing on the virus to others. The Agence France Presse reports that legislation is being prepared for the state government. "Some of the infected people experience a change of behavior and can turn more aggressive and would not think twice of infecting others," Dr. John Manangsang who is helping prepare the bill told the AFP. Manangsang said the microchip would be used only on people deemed likely to transmit the AIDS virus. AIDS activists called the move shocking. "People with HIV/AIDS are not like sharks under observation so that they have to be implanted with microchips to monitor their movements," said a spokesperson for the Papua chapter of the National AIDS Commission. "Any form of identification of people with HIV/AIDS violates human rights." The state health department says the area has about 3,000 living with HIV/AIDS out of a total population of 2.5 million people.