JAKARTA - A LAWMAKER in eastern Indonesia said Tuesday his province may scrap plans to tag HIV/Aids patients with microchips, following strong opposition from government officials, health workers and rights activists.

John Manangsang, one of the biggest supporters of the controversial clause in a new health bill being considered, said the provincial parliament in Papua would wrap up deliberations on the issue by the week's end.

But lawmakers were considering removing the section of the bill that supports the implantation of small computer chips beneath the skin of some HIV/Aids patients - part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease - because of a public outcry, he said.

Local health workers and Aids activists have called the tagging plan 'abhorrent,' arguing that the best way to tackle Papua's spiraling epidemic was through increased spending on sexual education and condom use.

'It's a violation of human rights,' said Papua's Deputy Governor, Alex Hasegem.

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, fueled mainly by intravenous drug users and prostitution.

But Papua, the country's easternmost and poorest province with a population of about 2 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. -- AP