Denpasar: Udayana University’s senior epidemiologist and HIV/AIDS activist Dewa Nyoman Wirawan disclosed that the number of sex workers’ clients on the resort island had reached an estimated 80,000 men per year, 50 percent of whom were tourists, domestic and foreign alike, while the remaining 50 percent were the island’s residents.
The estimation was based on recent research he conducted, which targeted sex workers in several well-known red-light districts across the island. The research did not cover other types of business, such as massage parlors, karaoke bars and cheap cafes, also believed to be offering similar services.
“With this fact in mind, we believe that the actual number could be much higher,” Wirawan said.
The influential professor said that the high number of men seeking the services of sex workers worried him less than their high aversion to using condoms, which significantly increased the risk of HIV/AIDS infections.
“Only 30 percent of them were willing to use condoms,” he said, as quoted by metrobali.com.
Such a low rate of condom usage, Wirawan estimated, had increased the infection rate to 1,000 persons per year.
“In red-light districts in Sanur, the infection rate has probably reached 1.6 percent,” he stated.
Sex workers? clients reach 80,000 across Bali | The Jakarta Post