Condom debate planned for World AIDS Day<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A debate on the use, sale and promotion of
\ncondoms is being organized by the Indonesian Medical Association
\nin connection with World AIDS Day, which falls on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
The debate will be held on Dec. 2 at the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Medicine, which is located on Jl. Salemba
\nRaya in Central Jakarta, medical association chairman Dr. Azrul
\nAzwar told The Jakarta Post yesterday.<\/p>\n
The debate will feature five speakers: former health minister
\nDr. Adhyatma; leader of Nahdlatul Ulama -- Indonesia's biggest
\nMoslem organization -- Abdurrachman Wahid; legislator Dr. Nafsiah
\nMboy; psychologist Yaumil Achir; and Dr. Sjamsurizal, a physician
\nwho has a lot of experience with AIDS cases.<\/p>\n
Azwar will be the moderator of the debate.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Ulemas Council recently proposed a regulation
\nthat would require people to produce a marriage certificate
\nbefore they could buy a condom. Council chief Hasan Basri
\nproposed that condoms be sold only at drugstores and made
\navailable only to married people with a doctor's prescription.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
The proposal was apparently related to the promotion of condom
\nuse by non-governmental organizations seeking to contain the
\nspread of AIDS.<\/p>\n
The ulemas council has criticized attempts to promote the use
\nof condoms, arguing that these could encourage sex outside of
\nwedlock.<\/p>\n
"We are organizing the debate to provide input for the
\ngovernment," Azwar said.<\/p>\n
Expressing his own view ahead of the debate, Azwar said that
\nhe fully agreed that religion and the promotion of family values
\nare essential in the fight against AIDS, but that they are not
\nenough.<\/p>\n
"Indonesians are ordinary human beings. They are just like
\nother people. Many of them are bad (nakal). Preaching to them
\nwill not do any good. We have to be realistic," he said.<\/p>\n
He added that, in order to prevent promiscuity, campaigns
\npromoting religious and family values and providing sex education
\nin schools could be held concurrently with campaigns promoting
\nthe use of condoms.<\/p>\n
As of last month, the government put the number of people in
\nIndonesia with HIV and AIDS at 346. Of that number, 82 were full-
\nblown AIDS cases, of which 50 had died.<\/p>\n
Some experts estimate that the actual number of people with
\nthe virus is more than 200 times the official figure. (sim)<\/p>",
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