USAID, RI start anti-AIDS project<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and the United States Agency for
\nInternational Development (USAID) has started a US$ 26.7 million
\nproject aimed at containing the spread of AIDS.<\/p>\n
Hidajat Hardjoprawito of the Indonesia's Ministry of Health
\nand Charles F. Weden of USAID on Monday signed the HIV\/AIDS
\nPrevention Project (HAPP) which will support the existing anti-
\nAIDS campaign.<\/p>\n
USAID will contribute US$20 million of the total funds.<\/p>\n
Among the programs to be carried out are campaigns to increase
\npublic awareness of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which
\ncauses the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.<\/p>\n
The project will also seek ways to improve diagnosis and
\nprovide counseling for HIV patients and other sexually-
\ntransmitted diseases, and to expand access to services that
\nprevent the diseases' transmission.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government has already made HIV\/AIDS prevention
\na national priority, developing last year a National AIDS
\nStrategy and a Five-year Plan of Action for containing the spread
\nof the virus.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto launched on Saturday a family AIDS-
\nawareness movement, putting the onus on families to prevent, and
\nfight against, the deadly disease.<\/p>\n
\"The HAPP project is designed to directly support the
\nIndonesian government's ongoing efforts to promote family
\nresilience by combating HIV\/AIDS,\" Weden said.<\/p>\n
In support of the National AIDS Strategy, the project will
\nprovide information and education to increase public awareness of
\nhow HIV\/AIDS is transmitted and how it can be prevented, Weden
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"This effort will encourage people to reduce behavior that
\nplaces them at risk of infection and will seek to dispel the
\nvarious myths that still surround HIV\/AIDS,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The project seeks to engage all members of society in the
\nfight against HIV\/AIDS,\" explained Joseph Carney, who heads up
\nUSAID's Human and Institutional Resource Development Office.<\/p>\n
AIDS was first reported here in 1987. As of last December, 67
\nIndonesians are known to have AIDS and at least 208 others have
\ntested HIV positive.<\/p>\n
A number of officials, however, have said that the actual HIV
\nfigure could be 200 times higher, and could reach 50,000 by the
\nend of this year. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/usaid-ri-start-anti-aids-project-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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