Balinese still believe in power of syringe

JAKARTA (JP): Most people in Bali still believe strongly in the healing powers of the syringe and this has had strong repercussions on the island's campaign against the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Bali Health Office Chief I.G.P. Sudhana said that most of the community health centers (puskemas) set up in many Bali villages do not have sufficient syringes to meet the public demand.

"This means that one needle is used more than once," Sudhana was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying on Saturday during a seminar on the prevention of AIDS.

Because the ideal of "one patient one syringe" could not be fulfilled, the health office in Bali has continued to distribute reusable syringes complete with sterilization kit to the village health centers, he said.

This is somewhat contradictory to a Health Ministry decree calling for rational use of syringes.

He pointed out that the shortage is largely caused by the fact that most Balinese, especially those with low education backgrounds, would not be satisfied simply with oral medicines, irrespective of the potential hazards of an injection.

He pointed out that the use of unsterilized syringes could expose patients to hepatitis or the AIDS virus.

His statement was supported by Yahya Anshori, an anthropologist working in Bali, who took part in the seminar.

"The people here still perceive that the syringe has a magical power and that it is the main part of the health service," he was quoted as saying.

"We need to change this perception," he added.

Sudhana said that changing the perception might take time, especially among the people in rural areas.

He said paramedics working at the village health centers must also share the blame for this trend because they should have advised patients about the hazards of syringes.

Some of them are afraid that their regular patients will go somewhere else if they do not give them injections, he added. (emb)