Save-sex program introduced to military<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Acknowledging that soldiers are vulnerable to Sexually
\nTransmitted Diseases (STDs) during missions across the country,
\nthe Ministry of Defense has initiated a program to prevent the
\nspread of HIV and other STDs among military personnel.<\/p>\n
The ministry said on Wednesday it was following the lead of
\nthe National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), which
\ncooperate with the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) in
\npromoting the use of condoms to reduce the risk of STDs.<\/p>\n
The ministry's Director General of National Resilience Rear
\nMarshall Pieter L.D. Wattimena admitted the program might spark
\ncontroversy as it could be regarded as a justification for
\npromiscuity in the military.<\/p>\n
\"I can't blame those who may think that distributing condoms
\nfor soldiers will encourage them to have sex out of wedlock. But
\nwe can't deny that as human beings soldiers need it especially
\nwhen they are joining a military operation far away from home,\"
\nWattimena said in his address to 220 officers who had just been
\ninstalled as the program's peer leaders.<\/p>\n
Wattimena declined to reveal data on the number of soldiers
\nwho had contracted STDs, but an officer who asked for anonymity
\nsaid almost 60 percent of Army soldiers leaving for Aceh for the
\nsecond six months of the military operation in the province in
\nJanuary tested positive for STDs.<\/p>\n
The peer leaders had undergone a two-week course on HIV\/AIDS
\nsponsored by UNAIDS.<\/p>\n
Each of them received a kit, including a dildo, a box of
\ncondoms, articles and data on HIV\/AIDS and a guidebook to enable
\nthem to share their knowledge with their colleagues.<\/p>\n
\"If people know that soldiers have to move from one operation
\nto another, with one operation lasting six months, they will
\nunderstand why we have to provide them with condoms,\" Wattimena
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Data from the Ministry of Health in 2003 revealed that nearly
\n26.4 percent of between 124,000 and 169,000 people with HIV\/AIDS
\nhad contracted it through sexual intercourse or injecting drugs
\nwith shared needles.<\/p>\n
\"Due to the high prevalence of HIV in Papua, we require a
\ncomprehensive medical checkup for soldiers departing for and
\narriving from the area,\" Wattimena said.<\/p>\n
The ministry, he added, had also asked the BKKBN to install
\ncondom vending machines in places accessible to soldiers
\ndeparting for a mission. A customer can buy a pack of five
\ncondoms for Rp 1,900 (US 20 cent) per transaction.<\/p>\n
Wattimena said a customer would have to register with the
\nministry and receive a card that will record each transaction he
\nor she makes.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/save-sex-program-introduced-to-military-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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