Baby with HIV draws public sympathy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Recent reports about an unidentified baby who
\ncontracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from its mother
\ntugged at laypeople's heartstrings.<\/p>\n
Several people interviewed by The Jakarta Post expressed
\nsympathy and concern about the first baby to be registered as HIV
\nvictim last month.<\/p>\n
A book shop attendant at the Senen shopping center in Central
\nJakarta said he never heard about HIV-positive baby before. \"I
\nknow about AIDS... it has no cure, but I don't know that a baby
\ncan get it too,\" Priyanto said.<\/p>\n
He said he pitied the helpless baby. \"The baby can't help
\nitself. It's fortunate that there's only one HIV baby.\"<\/p>\n
The baby was one of the 11 people added to the government's
\nlist of people with HIV or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
\n(AIDS), which now stands at 449.<\/p>\n
Sukiryono, a taxi driver, blamed prostitution for the
\nincreasing number of people with AIDS, and for the infection of
\nthe baby.<\/p>\n
\"People can't blame the baby for contracting the disease...
\nit's a pity it can't enjoy it's life longer,\" said Sukiryono who
\nhas four grown-ups children.<\/p>\n
\"People need more religious teachings to help them stay in the
\nright path,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Dewi Handayani, a student of a private university in Central
\nJakarta said she did not know much about AIDS, but still pitied
\nthe baby.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know much about the disease, but I know it's a
\ndeathly syndrome. It's a pity a baby has to suffer. It can't
\nprotect itself,\" Dewi said.<\/p>\n
Suhartini, a mother of two children and lives in Cempaka Putih
\narea, Central Jakarta, said she knows about AIDS from television.<\/p>\n
\"It's adults who should protect themselves from the disease so
\nthat it does not infect their children,\" Suhartini said. \"In this
\ncase, it's the adults who should be blamed.\"<\/p>\n
Suhartini said she would never ostracize people with HIV or
\nAIDS, whether babies or adults, should they are found to live in
\nher own neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\"The television and newspapers said AIDS does not infect
\npeople easily. I don't think there's (great danger of being
\ninfected) if I live around people with HIV or AIDS,\" she said.<\/p>\n
People with AIDS is the same with any other people who deserve
\nto be treated well. \"My religion teaches me that people should
\nhelp one another,\" Suhartini said.<\/p>\n
Dewi Handayani said she wouldn't know how to treat people with
\nHIV or AIDS. \"What if I made mistakes?\" she asked.<\/p>\n
Officials have recorded five babies as having born from
\nmothers with HIV, the most recent one was born in the Sanglah
\nHospital in Denpasar, Bali, in August.<\/p>\n
The other babies are from Bojonegoro and Malang in East Java,
\nfrom Jayapura in Irian Jaya and from Jakarta. None of the five
\nbabies had previously been reported as contracting HIV.<\/p>\n
Officials refused to reveal whether the baby who was tested
\nHIV positive was from among the five babies.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that until
\nJanuary this year there were 5.5 million HIV-positive children in
\nthe world: 2.3 million of them have developed AIDS. (ste)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/baby-with-hiv-draws-public-sympathy-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}