AIDS: Where do we stand?

If, whether by a lack of publicity or preoccupation with the more pressing issues of the day, Indonesians have allowed themselves to be lulled into believing that the AIDS scare has subsided over the years, then a country report for Indonesia that was released in Jakarta yesterday should serve them as a stark reminder of the prevailing realities. The figures are alarming indeed.

According to the report, which was released on Tuesday by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and is slated to be presented at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok later this month, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia grew by 3,924 from 1987 to 2003, of which 2,685 were HIV-positive and 1,239 had developed AIDS. However, given the nature of the disease and the stigmatization of those associated with it, the figures may understandably show some slight variations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) puts the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia at about 120,000. According to Ministry of Health data, the figure as of March is estimated to be anywhere between 90,000 and 130,000, of which 2,746 are HIV- positive and 1,413 have developed AIDS.

Among the estimated 125,000 to 196,000 injecting drug users (IDUs), the increase in HIV prevalence has led to the classification of six of the country's 32 provinces -- Jakarta, Papua, Bali, West Java, East Java and Riau -- as "badly affected".

The means by which the virus is transmitted also seems to differ from region to region, with unsafe sex believed to be the main mode of transfer in Papua, Bali and Riau, and in Jakarta, shared needles.

Whatever the means, however, it is clear that the global HIV/AIDS epidemic is showing signs of gaining a solid foothold here.

To the government's credit, it must be said that a number of steps have been taken over the past several years to stem, if not halt, the spread of HIV/AIDS.

For example, in response to high treatment costs, the government plans to provide subsidies of Rp 200,000 per person per month as of this year to 2,000 of the most needy patients. To further alleviate costs, Indonesia begun to produce generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) since December 2003 for distribution to patients through 25 designated hospitals across the country.

The ministries of health and social welfare have done their part in combating HIV/AIDS. Clearly, however, a good deal more must be done.

Official statistics show that more than half of HIV/AIDS cases in this country -- 52 percent to be exact -- affect the 20 to 29 age group. Some 28 percent of patients are in the 30 to 39 age group, and under 10 percent each for the remaining four age groups between 14 to 50 years old. If significant results are to be achieved, HIV/AIDS education on a wide scale should be among the most crucial steps.

With social workers saying that traditional and religious values often stand in the way of educating people about the dangers of unsafe sex, however, alternative means must be developed to involve religious and social communities.

This reality led Jusuf Kalla, when he was coordinating minister for people's welfare, to remark that the fight against HIV/AIDS could no longer be waged covertly. On one occasion, during an anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in Batam, the minister said: "There is nothing wrong for religious and community leaders to urge the use of condoms among people unafraid of sinning by engaging in extramarital sex. It is not that we can do as we like, it is to prevent (disease)."

Obviously, the battle against HIV and AIDS cannot be left to be waged by the authorities alone; It is a task that every citizen of this country must undertake.

Admittedly, it is not an easy one, but the alternatives are appalling.