AIDS, Condoms and hookers

In response to the letter of Wawat Rusmanawati published in The Jakarta Post on Sept. 5, and the letter from Azizah Soebagijo (MTP Secretary) on Sept. 9, please allow us to clarify.

1. The series of AIDS prevention public service announcements (PSAs) were developed by the Aksi Stop AIDS Program (ASA) to support the Gerakan Nasional Penanggulangan AIDS (The National HIV/AIDS Prevention Movement). The National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention proclaimed by the Coordinating Minister of Public Welfare in 1994 and still in effect, states:

- Every person has the right to receive correct information to protect themselves and others from HIV/AIDS infection.

- HIV/AIDS prevention is directed towards education and explanation of behaviors that reduce the opportunity for HIV transmission and to change behaviors that are high risk.

- Issues such as women's empowerment to negotiate a sexual encounter ... availability and use of condoms ... constitute important issues for effective implementation of this policy. These PSAs fall within the above framework of the National HIV Prevention Strategy.

2. The objective of these PSAs is to reduce harm from high risk behaviors (extramarital/premarital sex) currently occurring in Indonesian society. Harm reduction is linked to messages encouraging faithfulness towards spouses and abstinence for unmarried youths.

3. The spirit of the PSAs encouraging condom use in high risk situations is to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission and to protect housewives and their babies. According to estimates based on Department of Social Welfare survey data, there are between 260,000 and 370,000 female sex workers in Indonesia. Available data suggests they service more than seven million Indonesian men, more than 60 percent of whom are married and who risk infecting their wives and children.

4. The assumption that condom PSAs on HIV/AIDS encourage premarital and extramarital sex is not correct. In India, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, similar condom promotion decreased the number of visits of men to sex workers. 5. These PSAs are not made by, nor do they have any association with any condom producer.

ADJI DHARMOYO

Prevention Marketing Specialist

Program ASA Jakarta