HIV/AIDS cases among young people on the rise

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The number of young people with HIV/AIDS has soared in the past three years due to increasing intravenous drug use (IDU), activists say.

Joyce Djaelani Gordon, chairman of Kita Foundation, and Sri Wahyuningsih, coordinator of Pelita Ilmu Foundation, urge schools, parents, and the government to help educate the youth in addressing issues such as drug abuse and reproductive health in order to prevent the country from losing its young generation to the epidemic.

"HIV has already infected those who are still young, creative, and productive. I am afraid that in the next few years, youngsters will become a lost generation and only grandparents and grandchildren will survive," Joyce told The Jakarta Post Friday.

Data issued by the Ministry of Health showed that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in June 2002 stood at 2,950, 52 percent of which were young people between 20 and 29 years old.

In 2001, the number of young people with HIV/AIDS stood at 1,859, up from 709 in 2000 and 526 in 1999.

University of Indonesia's Working Group (Pokdisus) on AIDS told the Post that 67 percent of the 128 people with HIV/AIDS currently undergoing treatment were between 20 and 30 years old.

"Young people are prone to HIV infection because they are not exposed to sex education despite the fact that they are already sexually active. Most of them are infected through needle and syringe sharing and through unsafe sex," said Joyce, who is also a psychologist.

Joyce herself conducted a survey among 137 drug addicts aged between 16 and 32 years old in September, of which 131 were IDUs. At least 81 of the IDUs said in the survey that they adopted unsafe methods of injecting drugs.

The survey also showed that 113 people, or 83 percent, had sexual relationships in the past twelve months without much knowledge about the risks involved.

At least 76 people, or 56 percent, said that they received information about sex from movies; while 75 people, or 55 percent, did not use any contraceptives during sexual intercourse.

"Very few young people in Indonesia receive proper sex education," Joyce said.

According to Joyce, only three percent of the 137 survey participants received sex education from their parents, five percent from schoolmates, 12 percent from books, and 19 percent from friends. The survey also revealed that only 31 percent use condoms during sexual intercourse.

Another survey conducted by Pelita Ilmu Foundation showed that a great number of young people were vulnerable to drug abuse and free sex. The survey was conducted in five big malls in Jakarta involving 120 junior and senior high school students.

Joyce said that a preventive campaign targeting elementary school students and pragmatic intervention -- such as distributing condoms -- to people above 12 years of age would be effective in addressing the rise in cases of drug addiction and HIV infection among youngsters.

"Pragmatic intervention programs are aimed at the public, especially to high risk groups, so they can attend counseling sessions and be well-informed about reproductive health, the use of condoms, safe needle and syringe use, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic," Joyce said.

Sri Wahyuningsih of Pelita Ilmu Foundation said that peer education could be the best way to address the problems, since young people usually share their problems with their peers instead of their parents.

She said that some 540 senior high school students in Jakarta had been trained and informed about HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive health, and drug abuse.

"We believe that peer education can bring good changes in the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of youth who are in trouble," Sri said.