HIV/AIDS ctivists icollaborate with police

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.