HIV/AIDS causes social anxiety

HIV/AIDS causes social anxiety

By I Ketut Sutika

DENPASAR, Bali (Antara): The tourist island is visited by thousands of foreign tourists every day. The daily view of foreigners arriving at and leaving Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport has become commonplace. As Indonesia's number one tourist destination, the Island of the Gods last year alone recorded 1.4 million foreign visitors and 2.8 million domestic tourists.

Lurking behind the positive impact of rapid tourism advancement, however, is the inevitable threat and danger of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

"The threat of HIV/AIDS to Bali is quite worrying," said Tuti Ariani, director of family health at the Ministry of Health, when accompanying parenthood and health experts of Nepal and Bangladesh, who were on a comparative study of Bali's successful family planning and health management last week.

The influx of tourists has been blamed for the rise in HIV/AIDS cases, while no cure has been found for the deadly virus.

Various individuals and agencies have launched different campaigns to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, including information and guidance in the hope of protecting the public from HIV infection.

One of the alternatives to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS through sexual contact is the use of condoms, but the promotion of this has not run smoothly because not all people can accept it.

According to Tuti Ariani, the use of condoms to prevent conception and their function as a prophylactic currently boosted by the National Family Planning Coordinating Agency (BKKBN) and the Ministry of Health are equally important.

She therefore called on relevant agencies in Bali to further intensify the promotion of condoms to guard against AIDS.

Fifth place

There are 115 people with HIV/AIDS in Bali, comprising 89 with HIV and 26 with AIDS, ranking it fifth after Jakarta, Irian Jaya, Riau and East Java.

As provincial BKKBN chief Gede Putu Abadi indicated, the first AIDS case on the island was a Dutch tourist who was found dead in a lodging house in Karangasem, Bali's easternmost tourist spot, in 1987.

This first case of HIV/AIDS in Bali, and also in Indonesia, prompted the provincial health office to play an active role in the control of AIDS, and led to the formation of the central HIV/AIDS Control Committee as well as regional committees.

Bali Deputy Governor I Gusti Bagus Alit Putra, concurrently chairman of Bali's Regional Commission on AIDS Prevention (KPAD), disclosed that 35 more people with HIV/AIDS were registered in February-March 2001, originating in the province's penitentiary.

The potential for AIDS to spread in Bali is high, with the island's tourist arrivals increasing annually.

"Through control and prevention efforts undertaken by dif ferent parties, including non-governmental organizations, the number of people contracting HIV is expected to decrease in the years ahead," Alit Putra said.

Iceberg

Cases of HIV/AIDS are like an iceberg, with only a small part visible on the surface with many others undetected.

The cumulative total of Bali's HIV/AIDS cases has been established after the provincial health office and NGOs intensified their search for people with AIDS, who generally hide their condition.

At the end of February 2001, it was announced that some of the 155 inmates at Kerobokan Penitentiary who had been checked for HIV had tested positive, shocking the local Balinese community.

"The 35 had been infected before they were jailed, mostly due to intravenous drug use, not sexual behavior," said Prof. Dewa Nyoman Wirawan, a member of the province's KPAD.

In its activities, KPAD-Bali arranges coordination to launch public information campaigns against HIV/AIDS, particularly targeting youths and groups vulnerable to this condition.

Seminars are also held by involving community leaders, religious figures, experts and the medical profession to formulate strategies and policies so that the control and prevention of HIV/AIDS will achieve their goals.

Bali has specific features, namely its social system, culture, family and communal customs, which can ward off the effects of tourism that are not compatible with the nation's identity, including habits causing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Bali Governor Dewa Beratha has since 1998 been empowering custom-based villages to support the island's tourism success by stimulating local customs and art and culture performances.

Besides, the villages are also designed to fight drug abuse and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The concern shown by society, including NGOs, constitutes another advantage in this drive.

Udayana University's HIV-AIDS group, the health office and related agencies are all combating this illness, while KPAD-Bali also sends medical personnel for training and comparative studies.

Such studies on HIV/AIDS prevention and control have been made in, among other places, Thailand and India, in addition to training in Jakarta.