EU helps with anti-AIDS campaign

EU helps with anti-AIDS campaign

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia yesterday launched a project to control and contain the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including AIDS, with the assistance of the European Union.

The project is chiefly intended to impede the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Indonesia's major cities -- Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung.

Some of the specific objectives of the project include assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of supplying reproductive health services and educational and counseling services in a suitable setting for commercial sex workers and their clients.

The chief representative of the European Union in Indonesia, Klauspeter Schmallenbach, in his remarks at the project's launching, said the project includes the transfer of know-how and expertise through the training of Indonesian physicians, nurses and technical staff.

"In this regard, we think that the experience of doctors and researches from the University of Antwerp (Belgium) gained in and outside Europe will prove most important," Schmallenbach said.

The Rp 2 billion project which is entirely financed by the European Union, is part of EU's global efforts to contain the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Indonesian officials acknowledge that Indonesia, given its geographic location, is particularly prone to the spread of the disease for which there is no cure. They say the 275 people who to date have tested positive for HIV is only the tip of the iceberg and that a more accurate figure of people infected would be in the region of 40,000.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas, who heads the National Commission for the Control and Prevention of AIDS, in his speech at the launching ceremony welcomed the EU's gesture to assist Indonesia with its anti-AIDS drive.

Through the project, "we hope we can gain technology from the developed countries in Europe about STD and HIV/AIDS."

Azwar however said the national anti-AIDS strategy drawn by his commission targets families, urging them to strengthen resistance so to control and prevent the spread of the disease.

This, he considered, as the right approach "due to our cultural roots which are based on respecting the family institution."

Later, responding to reporters' questions, Azwar ruled out the need at this stage for Indonesia to establish a hospital specializing in AIDS. Existing hospitals should be adequate to deal with the problem, he added.

Azwar said his commission will take the anti-AIDS awareness campaign to all parts of the country.

He said a recent survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed that only 32 percent of all rural housewives are aware of the disease, compared to 60 percent of all urban housewives. (emb)