Legislators star in HIV/AIDS ads

JAKARTA: Some legislators participated in the shooting of video advertisements about HIVAIDS on Wednesday. The ads also featured actress Nurul Arifin, while the shooting location was the House of Representatives (DPR) compound.

Deputy House speaker Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and legislators Surya Chandra Surapaty of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), plus Simon Patrice Morin and Mariani Akib of Golkar were enthusiastic during the shooting.

Shooting was disrupted when some cars passed by, prompting the director to retake a scene several times.

Surya said that by participating in the ads, legislators wanted to show their concern on the spread of HIVAIDS in the country.

At a rough estimate, 80,000 to 120,000 Indonesians are either HIV-positive or living with AIDS, but official data from Sulianti Saroso hospital, which specializes in HIV/AIDS cases, records only 3,614 people. -- JP