Bangkok's grim reminder

Bangkok's grim reminder

When did Indonesians last hear about the global HIV/AIDS
epidemic? After the initial fright, came a hush that lulled many
among us into a state of complacency. Then came wishful thinking,
as in the minds of many Indonesians AIDS is something that
happens elsewhere. Indonesians may believe that they are being
spared the ravaging effects of the epidemic. After all, AIDS
figures published in the media have so far been on the low side,
unlike those in several other Asian countries and, especially, in
Africa.

Now, however, proof has come from the just-concluded 15th
International AIDS Conference in Bangkok to debunk the old truism
that silence is golden. HIV and AIDS can happen anywhere, to
anyone careless enough to fail to take the proper precautions
where carefulness is imperative -- such as in sexual relations or
injecting drug use. Silence and ignorance can certainly
contribute to the growth of the epidemic.

According to a report released this week by the Joint United
Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in cooperation with the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), more than 10 million people in the
Asia-Pacific region could be infected with HIV by the end of the
decade, unless prompt action is taken -- a hefty addition to the
approximately 7 million people in those regions estimated to be
already infected. The economic cost that such an addition would
involve could be as high as US$17.5 billion a year.

While the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia may be
considered relatively low, at about 120,000 according to the
World Health Organization (WHO), this is no reason for
unjustified complacency. According to UNAIDS, the number of
people with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia grew by 3,924 from 1987 to
2003. Of those 2,685 were HIV-positive and 1,413 had developed
full-blown AIDS. Of course, these figures probably do not
represent the total number of cases. The real figures are not
easy to come by or to estimate, mainly because of widespread
ignorance among the populace that exists about the disease.

Obviously, initiating a fitting program of education to change
people's attitudes toward the disease, combined with encouraging
a greater sense of realism in the community and among its
leaders, is one of the most important prerequisites for success.
As Jusuf Kalla, a vice presidential candidate and former
coordinating minister for people's welfare, so aptly put it:
"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."

Obviously, with women making up nearly half of all people in
the Asia-Pacific region infected with HIV, greater emphasis
should also be given to this particular segment of our society,
including eliminating gender bias wherever it exists. In this
same context, the government's efforts to make generic
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) available to HIV/AIDS patients
deserve to be lauded. However, the Rp 200,000 per person
subsidies that are to be allocated through 25 designated
hospitals seem hardly enough.

While under current economic and political circumstances it is
difficult to hope that all those needs can be provided for, it is
certainly not too much to hope that a fitting solution can be
found to take on the HIV/AIDS epidemic with all the means that
are available, and without delay.