HIV/AIDS ctivists icollaborate with police
Dewi Santoso, Jakarta
Activists introduced a harm reduction program to police on Wednesday to avoid misperceptions that could prompt police personnel to arrest HIV/AIDS activists in the field.
The harm reduction program is a scheme that provides injecting drug users (IDUs) with alternatives in the form of either methadone treatment or clean disposable needles.
Dozens of officers from the Jakarta Police attended on Wednesday a half-day seminar on the harm reduction program organized by the Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IHPCP) and the Jakarta National AIDS Commission (KPA Jakarta).
The head of the Partnership Relations Division of the Jakarta Police, Sr. Comr. Bambang S. Wardjoko, said on Wednesday that it was important for the police to know that the harm reduction program was part of an overall program to eradicate drug abuse from Indonesia. Besides this program, there are two others: the supply reduction program and the demand reduction program.
"It (the harm reduction program) focuses more on short-term goals, which is to prevent the number of people living with HIV/AIDS from increasing," said Bambang, adding that it did not mean that the police had given up on the two other programs -- supply reduction and demand reduction programs to achieve the long-term goal, which was to have the country free of drugs by the year 2005.
The supply reduction program focuses on cutting the supply of drugs, whereas the demand reduction program focuses on reducing the demand for drugs by holding big campaigns, such as the "Say No To Drugs" campaign in campuses throughout the country.
The seminar comes almost five months after the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the KPA on Dec. 8, 2003.
Data from the Ministry of Health revealed that half of the between 124,000 and 169,000 IDUs are HIV positive. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is estimated to stand at between 80,000 and 130,000.
The data also show that in Jakarta alone, there were approximately 27,000 IDUs, with a prevalence rate of between 46 percent and 78 percent. If no preventative action is taken, the number of PLWHA will rise to an estimated 1 million by 2010.
"Thus, it's important that the police understand how crucial this program is as otherwise our long-term goal of having our country free of drugs in 2005 will not be attainable," Bambang told the media.
The purpose of introducing this program, he said, was to make the police understand that the harm reduction program was aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS from spreading, and not legalizing the use of drugs.
With total funding of between Rp 150 million (US$17,000) and Rp 200 million, the IHPCP and the KPAD plan to provide 300 police officers with theoretical and technical assistance on the program.
"We'll train 60 police officers every month, with two weeks of theory and one week of field practice when we'll take them to meet members of non-governmental organizations (NGO) appointed to distribute the methadone and collect disposable needles," IHPCP adviser Palani Narayanan explained.
Three NGOs that are appointed for the program are Atma Jaya University Kiosks, which covers Duren Sawit in East Jakarta; the University of Indonesia, which covers the Depok area; and the Pelita Ilmu Foundation (YPI), which covers Kampung Bali in Central Jakarta.
"This way, we hope the police officers will understand what the harm reduction program is and cooperate with the NGO workers," said Narayanan.
KPA Jakarta deputy chairman Izhar M. Fihir said the program was expected to reach 10,000 IDUs per year. To date, the program has reached 3,000 IDUs.