Business as usual won't stop AIDS<\/p>\n
Warief Djajanto Basorie, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia estimates it has between 90,000 and 130,000 people
\nliving with HIV-AIDS. The alarming matter is that as much as 85
\npercent of them are in their productive years, aged from 15 to
\n45. The implication is if the numbers are left to grow, the loss
\nof a future working generation could hurt the nation.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has modestly aimed for 5,000 people with access to
\nantiretroviral treatment by 2004 and 10,000 by 2005. ARV
\ntreatment is a combination of at least three drugs that slows HIV
\nprogression and helps to prolong life.<\/p>\n
The total number of patients receiving ARV by the end of 2004,
\nhowever, was 1,553, according to one government count. This
\nfigure is based on data compiled from 25 hospitals nationwide the
\nhealth ministry assigned since July 2004 to accept and treat for
\nfree low-income people with HIV.<\/p>\n
The actual reach is in fact higher as services outside the 25
\nhospitals also provide therapy. These service providers include
\noutreach NGOs like the Jakarta-based Yayasan Pelita Ilmu that
\nworks in voluntary counseling and testing as well as in care and
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's country report of January 2005 on its follow up to
\na 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV\/AIDS (UNGASS)
\nestimated the total number of people who had received treatment
\nat the end of 2004 was 3,000, still well short of the 5,000
\ntarget.<\/p>\n
Not all of the designated hospitals have adequate medical,
\nnursing and counseling capacity. The voluntary counseling and
\ntesting clinics in the hospitals often do not yet properly
\nfunction.<\/p>\n
Detection of cases is also another problem. HIV-positive
\npeople may not be aware they are infected. Those that are aware
\nmay be reluctant to be tested and treated for fear of
\ndiscrimination.<\/p>\n
Health authorities will have to scale up the means of the 25
\nhospitals and put in place a case detection mechanism with NGO
\noutreach help that protects HIV positive people from
\ndiscrimination.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is just one country in Asia and the Pacific with
\nmuch work to do on AIDS. The current overall picture of the
\nepidemic in the region that houses half of humanity is daunting
\nif not grim.<\/p>\n
Some highly-populated countries like China, India, and
\nIndonesia have not reached a generalized epidemic where 1
\npercent or more of its people are already HIV infected. However
\nthese countries do have at-risk groups that can infect the public
\nat large.<\/p>\n
The prospect of stopping the spread of HIV infection becomes
\ndim when nations take a business-as-usual approach.<\/p>\n
\"If it's business is usual, we'll miss the sixth goal of the
\nMDGs (Millennium Development Goals) ,\" UNAIDS Asia-Pacific
\ndirector Prasada Rao says. The sixth goal of the eight UN-
\ninitiated goals is to halt and begin to reverse the spread of
\nHIV\/AIDS by 2015.<\/p>\n
The call then is to scale up the response to AIDS so that the
\nsixth goal can be reached. Increasing the response according to a
\nfixed ratio includes more effort in prevention, care and
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
Prevention focuses on promoting behavioral changes, education
\nfor individuals in vulnerable groups on safer sex and use of
\nsterile needles. Initiatives to that end include a 100 percent
\ncondom use program in brothels and a needle and syringe exchange
\nfor injecting drug users.<\/p>\n
The WHO and UNAIDS launched care and treatment programs for
\nthree million people already infected with HIV in December 2003
\nin the region.<\/p>\n
What about vaccines? After 20 years of research none are
\nviable yet. We all need to work harder to fight this disease.<\/p>\n
The writer managed a 12-month workshop on AIDS for journalists
\nin 2004 at the Jakarta-based Dr. Soetomo Press Institute, LPDS.
\nHe can be reached at wariefdj@yahoo.com.<\/p>",
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