First HIV eradication committee in prison set up

First HIV eradication committee in prison set up

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

In an apparent attempt to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS among
prison inmates, particularly those who have drug dependency
problems, the Indonesian government on Monday established the
Bali's prison working committee on HIV/AIDS prevention.

In a modest ceremony at the island's largest penitentiary
Kerobokan, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights' director of
narcotics, Soejoto, said the committee would be tasked with
providing inmates with a wider access to information, health
services and support related to HIV/AIDS and drugs.

"This is the first provincial-level prison working committee
we have ever had in Indonesia and we expect other provinces will
soon follow suit," the Indonesian HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care
Project (IHPCP) adviser Palani Narayanan said.

The IHPCP was the primary donor of the working committee,
which would facilitate and supervise HIV/AIDS education and
prevention programs at the island's two designated narcotic
prisons: Kerobokan and Bangli.

Chairman of the working committee AA Gde Hartawan said the
efforts to curb the virus had actually started before the working
committee was established. He said the Kerobokan prison authority
had conducted a regular education program on HIV/AIDS since 2001
in cooperation with various local non-governmental organizations.

"We initiated the program after blood tests conducted on
prison's inmates showed that 35 inmates were HIV positive,"
Hartawan said.

The existing program focuses on raising the inmates' awareness
of various risky behavior that could transmit the virus, most
importantly needle-sharing among the inmates. Peer educator
trainings, meditation sessions, narcotic anonymous meetings and
Voluntary Test Counseling (VCT) are some of the program's current
activities. The prison has also placed all inmates with a history
of drug-use in one special block.

"The existence of the working committee will enable us to
expand the existing program. We will soon provide the inmates
with condoms, and bleaching powder that will effectively
sterilize syringes and needles," Hartawan said.

The Kerobokan prison currently houses 560 inmates, 264 of them
are drug addicts. Blood tests conducted on 300 inmates in October
2003 disclosed that 32 of them were HIV-positive.

"Our education program is effective because when we informed
the inmates of the results of the tests they said they were not
afraid of living side by side with HIV-infected people. There has
been no report of discrimination against HIV-infected inmates
here," Hartawan said.