Activist steps out to spread word about deadly disease AIDS
By Bruce Emond
JAKARTA (JP): Dr. John Chittick is an unlikely foot soldier in the global war on AIDS. Literally.
A short, roly-poly figure with a mop of graying hair, he bears more resemblance to an overgrown schoolboy than a man whose declared mission is to spread the word about the disease.
His fighting fatigues are gaudy Hawaiian shirts which lend him a benign, almost comical appearance and, he believes, puts those he meets immediately at ease during his "information" walks in far-flung cities of the world.
His battle cry, a softly delivered but fervent warning on the dangers of the epidemic, includes the directive "No sex, No AIDS".
And his target is the world's teenagers, who he contends are at the greatest risk of contracting the disease as they venture into experimentation with drugs and sex.
"This is a mission which is important both professionally and personally to me," Chittick said during a visit last week to Jakarta. "I have known many people who have died of the disease -- and many more who will die."
His mission grew out of his doctoral research at Harvard University, published in 1994 as Adolescents and AIDS: The Third Wave. During this time, he became acquainted with Dr. Jonathan Mann -- he describes him as a "mentor" -- who was at the forefront in raising awareness about the deadly new disease in the early 1980s.
Mann's death in the SwissAir plane crash off Nova Scotia in September 1998 gave Chittick the impetus to establish TeenAIDS- PeerCorps, a non-profit organization which also maintains an information site on the web (www.teenaids.org).
"I was at my family's home when it came on CNN about the SwissAir crash. And although I didn't know Dr. Mann was aboard the flight, that whole night I couldn't sleep thinking about how I needed to do something to get the message out about AIDS. And when I heard Dr. Mann was killed, I decided to do this."
Chittick's "Global Walk to Prevent Teen HIV/AIDS", which is dedicated to Mann's memory, will cover 15 developing countries and U.S. cities and suburbs. It began in Vietnam in January and will wind up at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, in July.
He contends the major problem today is ending the myth that AIDS does not touch young heterosexuals.
"At least 50 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases around the world are in people 24 and under. But a lot of people don't want to see it as a problem -- if it is, they think it must be of gay teens."
Chittick said he came across the denial among teens hanging out in Blok M Mall, male hustlers selling themselves at Lapangan Banteng in the heart of Jakarta and prostitutes in the Kramat Tunggak red-light area.
"In the past, Indonesia did not tell the truth about its AIDS problem. There was the attitude that this is a foreigners' disease and that we are invulnerable to this."
Despite his unabashed confession that "I've tried nearly everything at one time or another", Chittick knows he runs the risk of being called the ultimate party pooper by those who argue they can take a tab of Ecstasy, hit the disco and still behave responsibly in bed.
"I know I get a lot of people riled up when I say 'No sex, No AIDS'," he said of the message, which is also stamped in Indonesian on his name card. "But that is what it comes down to. Sure, you can use condoms, but condoms are not foolproof. They can leak."
During his Indonesia trip, Chittick conducted information seminars for staff at Le Meridien, where he stayed in Jakarta.
"Separate talks were held for male and female staff, and Dr. John put the problem in terms we could really understand," said the hotel's public relations manager Aprilisa Madewa. "I went to both sessions and, of course, he was more polite when he talked with the women.
"But what he said really made us think about the problem."
Chittick consciously distances himself from "those who say 'No, No, No' to teens and cut off all dialog. With this kind of problem, there needs to be communication".
Chittick also condemns religious conservatives who champion AIDS as divine retribution for the world's sinners.
"When I was in Malaysia, there was a seminar on AIDS and Islam, which is a great idea because you are putting it in terms for people to understand. And there is no holy book from any religion which says its OK to let people die from not knowing about HIV."
He contends that today's worldly teenagers are far different from even 20-somethings.
"Teens are part of that global, live-for-today MTV reality. Traditions are breaking down like never before in our history. The problem is that teens cannot separate what say Ricky Martin or Madonna is doing, the entertainment, from reality."
Educating teens about the disease, he adds, is best done by those who know them best -- their peers.
"Part of being a teenager is breaking away and being oneself, separating themselves from adults and becoming part of a peer group. But young people also want to be told they have a responsibility. I tell them they have the responsibility to save their own and a friend's life by learning about AIDS."
Through his travels around the world, Chittick hopes to be able to meet and talk to at least 25,000 young people.
"With every young person I meet, I talk to them, touch them and use humor," Chittick said as he prepared to return to the U.S. for a walk through America's heartland. "I look them in the eyes and tell them to tell their friends that AIDS is here."