NGOs target young people in anti-AIDS drive<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As sex becomes a common practice among city
\nteenagers, non-government organizations are targeting young
\npeople in their anti-AIDS work.<\/p>\n
They are targeting junior and senior high school students,
\nuniversity students and young people who work in prostitution.<\/p>\n
An executive of the Indonesian Family Planning Association,
\nHari Purnama, said yesterday that the organization proposed to
\nconduct sex education and counseling for high school and
\nuniversity students in the city.<\/p>\n
\"Our project would include students of 1,300 junior high
\nschools, 1,000 senior high schools and 10 universities throughout
\nthe city, prostitutes in the Kramat Tunggak red light district
\nand entertainment centers on Jl. Mangga Besar,\" Hari told
\nreporters after a meeting to review the AIDS prevention program
\nin the city, which is being financed by the World Bank.<\/p>\n
Data released by the ministry of health shows that the number
\nof people in Jakarta infected with the Human Immunodeficiency
\nVirus (HIV) which causes AIDS had reached 105.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that a total of 312 people have HIV\/AIDS in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Hari said the proposal was part of a new public health policy
\nwhich includes sectors outside of the medical sector in
\npreventing the spread of the deadly disease.<\/p>\n
\"This kind of project has never before been implemented in
\nIndonesia, but it has proven effective in other countries,\" Hari
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Hari said the program included encouraging teachers to have
\nall their students attend briefings on AIDS and safe sex.
\nPanderers are to make it a rule that all their prostitutes attend
\nsuch presentations.<\/p>\n
Hari said that research provided strong indications that
\nsexual intercourse is common among students nowadays and that,
\ntherefore, it is important to educate them about safe sex.<\/p>\n
\"It is better to educate them about sex than leave them in the
\ndark. Thereby, youths will know their responsibilities and can
\navoid cases such as unwanted pregnancy, sexual-transmitted
\ndiseases and abortions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging that sex education was still a sensitive
\nissue in predominantly-Moslem Indonesia, Hari said it was
\nnevertheless important that it be undertaken.<\/p>\n
Rita Kuriasuti, AIDS program coordinator with the city health
\noffice, takes a similar position.<\/p>\n
\"Whether we like it or not, it is a fact that now there is a
\ntendency for people to have sex at a younger age,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, along with Riau, has been appointed by the National
\nAIDS Commission as a pilot project for a government-funded aids
\nprevention program, which will be financed with a loan from the
\nWorld Bank.<\/p>\n
Four NGOs have proposed projects through which they would
\nparticipate in the program, which will start in the 1996\/1997
\nfiscal year. The three-year program will cost Rp 27 billion
\n(US$12 million).<\/p>\n
\"The two places have been chosen as models because of their
\nhigh AIDS prevalence,\" Mawarwati, an official from the ministry
\nof health, told reporters,<\/p>\n
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said that the city administration
\nwould play an active role in combating the disease.<\/p>\n
\"It is important to start the program as soon as possible and
\nnot to wait for the loan. We (the city administration) will use
\nour own budget to start it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Surjadi said that AIDS was a problem that needed an urgent
\nsolution and that his administration did not want the disease to
\nget out of control.(yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-target-young-people-in-anti-aids-drive-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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