Indonesia has AIDS challenges ahead<\/p>\n
The 10th International Conference on AIDS, the first in Asia
\nwhere the disease is spreading fastest, was closed Thursday
\nleaving behind some unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
By Tony Kahane<\/p>\n
YOKOHAMA (JP): As the 11,000 delegates prepare to go home, the
\nquestions raised by Dr. Michael Merson remain: What should be the
\npriorities of the global response to AIDS? Is enough being done
\nnow? And is enough being done in Indonesia to prevent the spread
\nof HIV?<\/p>\n
As Dr. Merson, the executive director of the World Health
\nOrganization's Global Program on AIDS, said we must deal with the
\nthree forces in society that are driving the spread of HIV and
\nblocking effective prevention and care -- denial, discrimination
\nand disempowerment.<\/p>\n
\"Denial,\" said Dr. Merson, \"is what keeps society's leaders
\nfrom taking the pandemic of AIDS seriously and investing the
\nresources needed.\"<\/p>\n
So is there denial in Indonesia? According to Dr. Tuti
\nParwati, a leading social researcher on AIDS at Udayana
\nUniversity in Bali, there is. \"Denial is still an obstacle to be
\novercome in Indonesia,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Dr. Dede Oetomo, lecturer at Surabaya's Airlangga University
\nand coordinator of a leading national gay organization, agrees.
\nOetomo says, \"too many of the authorities try to deny the fact
\nthat many adolescents have sexual experiences. These young people
\ntherefore do not get the proper sexual education and information
\nwhich might protect them from HIV, and they are at unnecessary
\nrisk. There is similar denial in ignoring the fact that many
\nmarried men also have sex with prostitutes or with wari, and that
\nmany have sex with other men.\"<\/p>\n
Denial apart, Dr. Oetomo is also critical of other aspects of
\nthe national AIDS effort. \"Still not enough is being done,\" he
\nsays. \"The National AIDS Committee is out of touch with reality.
\nAnd it does not have a clear policy on HIV testing. Testing for
\nsurveillance, for the purpose of building an effective public
\nhealth policy, must be systematic and it must be confidential and
\nunlinked.\"<\/p>\n
Discrimination and disempowerment, Dr. Merson's two other
\ngreat enemies in combating the spread of the pandemic, also have
\nyet to be faced squarely in Indonesia. In a book published this
\nyear, Dr. Rosalia Sciortino revealed the results of her survey on
\nthe AIDS coverage in the Indonesian-language press over the past
\nfour years. Like in many other countries, the first group,
\naccording to Dr. Sciortino, that was blamed for the disease was
\nwhite foreigners (bule). Then it was gay men. Now it is female
\nsex workers.<\/p>\n
Not only are these people blamed, but the testing policy is
\nstill used more as a form of moral judgment than as a tool for
\npublic health policy. \"The men who frequent prostitutes are never
\ntested,\" argues Dr. Oetomo. \"They only go after the sex workers
\nwith their HIV tests, as if they were trying to catch criminals.\"<\/p>\n
There are, all the same, some positive aspects within the
\nnational AIDS effort. One place where there seems to be good
\ncooperation between health ministry personnel, AIDS researchers
\nand non-governmental organizations is Bali. Dr. Tuti, who is also
\nchair of the Citra Usadha AIDS Foundation in Bali, stresses that
\ninformation to different target groups -- people who might be at
\nextra risk because of their behavior -- must be more forthcoming,
\nappropriate, and handled delicately and thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
Most Indonesian researchers in Yokohama agree that Indonesia
\nmust now seize the moment and improve its national AIDS effort.
\nIndonesia, says Dr. Tuti, can learn from other countries who have
\nprogressed further down the road of the epidemic, including
\nThailand and the U.S. \"AIDS,\" says Dr. Tuti, \"is not just a
\nhealth issue. It has myriad social implications which must be
\naddressed.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia sent 30 AIDS experts this year, from national and
\nprovincial government and non-government organizations alike, to
\nthe world's most important AIDS gathering. As these people fly
\nhome they will want this meeting to provide \"a landmark which
\ndivides the past from the future,\" quoting Dr. Merson who
\nborrowed Nehru's words.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-has-aids-challenges-ahead-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}