Jakarta – The National AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) says the 12 children the commission found living with HIV/AIDS in Jayapura district, Papua, are just the "tip of the iceberg".

The results of a survey conducted in Sentani, Jayapura, in 2010, were recently revealed by KPA Jayapura – Among the more startling revelations was that 12 children between one and four years of age were living with HIV/AIDS in that area.

"The children... contracted HIV/AIDS from their mother during childbirth and breastfeeding," KPA Jayapura secretary Purnomo said Monday as reported by kompas.com.

He added that the cases were just the "tip of the iceberg", and that preventive measures needed to be taken by the community to stop the spread of the disease. "These cases must be taken seriously by the community, especially by parents. If preventive measures are not taken the future of our younger generation will be put in jeopardy," he said.

The survey also revealed the total number of reported cases of people living with HIV/AIDS in Jayapura regency reached 609 in 2010, with the majority of these (367) being women. The single-largest group were housewives, accounting for 164 cases, followed by commercial sex workers, 102 cases, and farmers and laborers with 61 cases.