JAKARTA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Indonesia has dropped a controversial proposal to implant microchips in HIV/AIDS patients in Papua province, a legislator said on Tuesday, after human rights groups slammed the plan.

A lawmaker in Papua, which has the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients in Indonesia, last month proposed using implanted microchips to tag HIV/AIDS patients so authorities could monitor them.

The proposal prompted an angry response from Papuans and from human rights groups.

"We have agreed today to drop it," Komarudin Watubun, a deputy speaker in the local parliament, told Reuters.

But he said Papua would go ahead with plans to pass legislation aimed at fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Papua in eastern Indonesia has 5,000 reported cases.

The central government, however, estimates there could be as many as 29,000, as partner-swapping rituals in some tribes, as well as poor education about AIDS, lack of condoms and promiscuous behaviour have contributed to the spread of the disease.

($1=11,025 rupiah) (Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Sara Webb and Sugita Katyal)

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