Jakarta to map HIV patients and target treatments

The Government of Jakarta is going to map the highest incidences of HIV to better target treatment programs.

Currently, the government’s approach is haphazard but it hopes that by plotting instances on a digital map, policymakers can target communications and treatment centers to communities most in need.

Jakarta Vice Governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat said that district heads are responsible for this initiative, and must share the data with the Smart City Unit.

Indonesia is facing an AIDS “epidemic”, according to Unicef, due to poor treatment and public communications policies.

Jakarta has been turning to digital mapping to understand its biggest policy problems over the past two years. Since 2014, the government has used GIS to show policy problems on an interactive map viewed by officials in the city’s Smart City Unit.  

The data is accessible to all citizens and lets them see where the greatest problems are. It encourages quick responses and shames poorly run districts.

It shows issues including traffic jams and all public CCTV feeds in the capital, and can allow people to log complaints of faulty services.