From: Canadian Press / Yahoo.com —

The legislature of the Indonesian province of Papua is considering a bill that would see the mandatory implantation of some HIV/AIDS patients there with tracking and identification microchips. Moreover, it appears that a majority of legislators are planning to vote in favour of the measure.

News of the potential new legislation has sparked outrage among public health workers and civil libertarians around the globe.

As The Canadian Press reports, at Yahoo!.com, “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, fuelled mainly by intravenous drug users and prostitution. 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, according to internationally-funded research, which blames lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases.”

If passed, the legislation could come into force before the end of the year. However, observers point out that the technical details and practial considerations of the plan have yet to be worked out.