'Educated people also spread AIDS'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An anti-AIDS campaigner laments the fact that
\nhighly-educated people irresponsibly continue to have unprotected
\ncasual sex with extramarital partners despite knowing they have
\ncontracted Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).<\/p>\n
Psychologist Nona Pooroe Utomo, drawing on her work with
\npeople with AIDS, said some junior and senior managers of private
\ncompanies aged between 30 to 40 years old had contracted AIDS
\nfrom casual sexual encounters. Alarmingly, some of them continued
\nto indiscriminately have unprotected sex with other partners, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"These people spread AIDS,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Nona rejected the popular perception that sex workers were the
\nmost responsible for spreading AIDS. Quite a number of people who
\nspread AIDS were young adults, even senior high school students
\nfrom average middle class families, she said, quoting a study
\nconducted in Jakarta and several regions in East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"They are usually seemingly upright members of their
\ncommunities, who maintain jobs, families, friends and religious
\nactivities at churches or mosques, while they continue to have
\nunprotected sex,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said the main reason the young adults needed sex was to
\n\"relieve stress.\" High school students who have casual sex do so
\nto meet their physical and emotional needs, as well as to gain
\nmaterial satisfaction from partners who paid them to have sex.<\/p>\n
Both groups often had unprotected sex, she said.<\/p>\n
Nona also quoted a report from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General
\nHospital which said the group of young adults they treated for
\nAIDS were employees of the private sector, civil servants and
\nArmed Forces members.<\/p>\n
Nona expressed hopes for better cooperation within the medical
\ncommunity and between government agencies and non-governmental
\norganizations, in the fight against AIDS and the Human
\nImmunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes the deadly syndrome.<\/p>\n
She also called for special attention to be paid to the two
\ngroups she mentioned: the young adults, and the professionals.
\nThese two groups were most at risk, and behavioral changes were
\ndefinitely called for, she said.<\/p>\n
She called on the mass media to help educate people about the
\nneed for responsible sexual behavior. She cited as a good example
\nthe ABC (Abstinence, Be good, use Condoms) motto applied in
\nMalaysia. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/educated-people-also-spread-aids-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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