Science & Technology

Chip Implants for "Aggressive" HIV Patients?

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Authorities in Indonesia's Papua region are contemplating a new tactic to decrease the spread of HIV—microchip implants:

Lawmakers in Indonesia's Papua are mulling the selective use of chip implants in HIV carriers to monitor their behaviour in a bid to keep them from infecting others, a doctor said Tuesday.

Apparently, among other symptoms, HIV causes sociopathic behavior. Who knew?:

"Some of the infected people experience a change of behaviour and can turn more aggressive and would not think twice of infecting others," [John Manangsang, a doctor who is helping to prepare a new healthcare regulation bill for Papua's provincial parliament] alleged, saying lawmakers were considering various sanctions for these people.

"Among one of the means being considered is the monitoring of those infected people who can pose a danger to others," Manangsang said.

While Manangsang says this is only for a small number of the infected, specifying that it applies only to those "who can pose a danger to others" effectively limits the proposal only to those who are still breathing.

I wrote about governments using implants to track people here. reason Senior Editor Kerry Howley on tracking sex offenders here.