AIDS: Twisted view leads farmer to ruin<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Kartam never imagined such news could bring a hell that came
\nclose to ruining his life forever.<\/p>\n
Kartam's tragic story began eight years ago when police, the
\nvillage leader and a doctor arrived at his home in Cibuaya,
\nKarawang, West Java. The uninvited guests forced him and his
\nfamily to take a blood test.<\/p>\n
Later that day, Katam, a farm laborer in his 50s, received the
\nshocking news: A local newspaper reported that three female
\nworkers from Cibuaya had been sent home by government officials
\nin Riau, where they worked, after testing positive for Human
\nImmunodeficiency Virus, more commonly known as HIV.<\/p>\n
One of them, according to the article, was his 17-year-old
\ndaughter.<\/p>\n
In Riau, his daughter worked as a food stall attendant. Her
\nboss, admiring her beauty, made her his concubine -- prompting
\nlocal public health officials put her a AIDS high-risk list and
\nmade her subject to involuntary testing.<\/p>\n
Since then, Kartam's life has been turned upside down. Shunned
\nand discriminated against by the local community for the last
\nfour years, he and his family have been forced to move from place
\nto place. Upon learning of his daughter's HIV, each village would
\ndrive him off.<\/p>\n
His daughter left home after she found life unbearable:
\njournalists stalked her and took her picture. Their standard
\nquestion was how she got the virus.<\/p>\n
\"Villagers went as far as burning a chair where my daughter
\nhad sat for fear of contracting the virus,\" Kartam said,
\nrecounting his bitter plight to participants of AIDS seminar on
\nThursday. \"Nobody wanted to pass by my door.\"<\/p>\n
Kartam recalled that even police refused to come near his
\nhome, and would shout obscenities at him.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, though still fearful of rejection, Kartam and
\nhis family returned to Cibuaya and, later, so did his daughter.
\nShe had spent four years in hiding.<\/p>\n
It was a happy ending for the daughter, however. After
\nundergoing another test as a requirement for a job in Saudi
\nArabia, she tested negative. Following several months there, she
\nreturned home, and lives with her lover in Riau again.<\/p>\n
Kartam's saga was a case study about the ignorance of the
\nIndonesian public, fueled by media stereotypes, about people with
\nHIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
Irwan Julianto, a senior journalist and AIDS activist,
\nreferring to the media, said, \"when they report HIV\/AIDS news,
\ntheir paradigm is 'bad news is good news'.\"<\/p>\n
\"They have yet to approach it with compassionate journalism,\"
\nIrwan added.<\/p>\n
Maltreatment and rejection of people with HIV\/AIDS will only
\nworsen the situation, he said, since it deprives the sufferer of
\nproper treatment, and can cause the virus to spread elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Syaiful W. Harahap, editor of HindarAIDS newsletter likewise
\nsaid that the media often made HIV\/AIDS sufferers pariahs.<\/p>\n
By forcing doctors to reveal the medical records of people
\nsuspected of having HIV\/AIDS, Indonesian journalists themselves
\noften violate a basic human right.<\/p>\n
\"A medical record is confidential -- it is against the law to
\nreveal it to public,\" Syaiful said. \"But on top of things, it
\nviolates the right of confidentiality of HIV\/AIDS victims.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aids-twisted-view-leads-farmer-to-ruin-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}