ASEAN urged to fight HIV/AIDS pandemic

Ati Nurbaiti and Rita A. Widiadana, Sanur, Bali

HIV/AIDS activists and experts have called on governments grouped in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to make a strong commitment to combat the spread of the condition, and also urged them to stop playing down the seriousness of this complex issue.

In a panel discussion at the Second ASEAN People's Assembly on Saturday, Nik Fahme Husin from Malaysia strongly urged the region's governments to address the HIV/AIDS issue.

"HIV/AIDS is more than a health issue. It is a human security problem, which will affect people's basic security," Fahmee said.

HIV/AIDs usually hits people in their productive age and contributes to the loss of a potential work force, costing both the individual and the nation.

He warned authorities that unless they took proper action, HIV/AIDS would threaten the entire population of the region.

"We should learn a hard lesson from African countries where their governments hid and simplified HIV/AIDS before it turned into a time bomb for their countries," he said.

He said ASEAN countries still had an opportunity to prevent this from happening in the region, provided that the governments and the entire population worked hand in hand to fight HIV/AIDS.

Roy Chan, a medical doctor from Singapore, said that ASEAN countries required a political commitment from the very highest level of government in facing the HIV/AIDS problem.

These commitments must be translated into real action in the form of comprehensive and integrated programs, wide access to medication, including affordable treatment and drugs, Chan said.

Singapore is a more developed country than others in the region, yet health treatment and facilities for people living with HIV/AIDS are limited, he said.

In Singapore, a report reveals that more than 1,000 people are living with HIV/AIDs. "But our patients in Singapore have to buy drugs at U.S. prices. There are no subsidies, no generic drugs available," he said.

HIV/AIDS came late to Asia. Until the late l980s, not one country in the region had experienced a major epidemic, and in l999, only Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand documented a significant nationwide epidemic.

In 2001, 1.07 million adults and children became infected with HIV in Asia and the Pacific region, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in this region to more than 7 million.

Danny Yatim, an AIDS councillor from Indonesia, said that the government should be more pragmatic in dealing with the issue.

The latest figure of reported cases of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia has reached 3,000.

"This figure is nothing compared to the country's population of 220 million. The Indonesian government will say that this is just a small issue compared to our current economic and political problems," Danny said.

Many officials tend to view HIV/AIDS as affecting only sex workers or the homosexual community, he said.

"We have to open their eyes and change their mind-set that HIV/AIDS can affect anybody, the young or the old, the rich or the poor, before they can make a commitment," Danny said.

Hopes will be dimmed if officials maintain "conventional views on these issues. Ethics and moral issues have always been used as an excuse to not address HIV/AIDS properly," Danny said.

The promotion of the usage of condoms to prevent AIDS has often been mistaken by authorities as promoting sex among people, the youth especially, he said. "Religious leaders frequently object to the distribution of condoms."

But in the fight against HIV/AIDS, he urged a cross-border collaboration. "If you cannot rely on the government, you can still find help from the people and organizations in the region to share experiences and, at least, information, " Danny said.

The HIV/AIDS issue will be presented at the next ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, next November as a common and crucial issue faced by people in the ASEAN region.