A controversial bill that requires some HIV patients to be implanted with microchips has just received the support of lawmakers in Indonesia’s remote province of Papua. However, health workers and right activists sharply criticized the plan on Monday, even if this is part of some extreme efforts to monitor the disease. Legislator John Manangsang has told the media that it’s very important to implant small computer chips beneath the skin of “sexually aggressive” patients, and that’s because the authorities would be in a better position to identify, track and ultimately punish those who deliberately infect others with up to six months in jail or a $5,000 fine.

If it gets a majority vote as expected, the proposed legislation will be enacted next month. The technical and practical details still need to be resolved, but the full backing from the provincial parliament is certainly a step forward. Reports indicate that 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 by intravenous drug users and prostitution. Anyway, Papua, the country’s poorest province, has been severely hit. Its case rate of almost 61 per 100,000 is 15 times the national average, shows an internationally funded report, which blames the lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases.

In order to introduce the chips, a committee will be created to determine who should be fitted with chips and to monitor the patients’ behavior. Nancy Fee, the UNAIDS country coordinator, said the global body was not aware of any laws or initiatives elsewhere involving HIV patients and microchips, but she does not think this will have a good effect on human rights and public health, because it will make people push the problem further underground. In addition, local health workers and AIDS activists called the plan “abhorrent.” They consider the best way to avoid the epidemic is to spend time on sexual education and condom use.