Moslem ulemas come up with suggestions to curb AIDS

Moslem ulemas come up with suggestions to curb AIDS

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Moslem scholars and leaders attending a five-day special discussion on AIDS in Bandung have come up with various suggestions on ways to curb the deadly disease.

The 100-odd ulemas called yesterday for concerted efforts by government, ulemas and the public alike to fight the disease and raise awareness about AIDS and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes it.

The ulemas meeting, which will conclude today, also agreed that the most effective way to fight AIDS is by "encouraging people to go back to religious behavior".

"Religious teaching is the strongest fortress against the onslaught of AIDS," the deputy chairman of the influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), Ali Yafie, told the meeting.

From outside the meeting arena, suggestions also poured in. Chairman of East Java branch of MUI Misbach called on the authorities to screen incoming foreign tourists and issue special "AIDS-free" certificates.

"The screening procedures could be conducted by either foreign or domestic authorities. This is a necessary step, because AIDS first entered Indonesia through tourism areas," he said in Surabaya yesterday.

Misbach, as quoted by the Antara news agency, acknowledged that the government is faced with a difficult situation. "There's the question of tourism as a national source of income, while there's also the question of the public being harmed by AIDS," he said.

"It's a tough decision to make, but if we want to protect the nation from AIDS and HIV, then this tight screening procedure has to be conducted," he said.

From Medan, North Sumatra, a professor at the local State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), Ridwan Lubis, called for a drive to instill in young people a sense of the sanctity of sexual relationships.

"A sexual relationship should always be seen as a sacred thing, something to do only within marriage," he said. "The drive will help those who see sex as something to experiment with, to realize their mistakes," he said.

In Jakarta, legislator and leading anti-AIDS campaigner Nafsiah Mboi disclosed the results of a recent poll conducted at two universities here which reveal the low level of AIDS awareness among academics and students.

"Many students are ignorant about AIDS," she said.

Students, for instance, instantly brand female HIV or AIDS patients as prostitutes, even though they may have contracted the disease by non-sexual transmission, Mboi said.

On Tuesday, Minister of Health Sujudi admitted in the ulemas' meeting that large-scale campaigns for use of condoms to protect against AIDS are not always effective.

"It is true that campaigns for use of condoms have reduced the prevalence of venereal diseases, including HIV infection, among high-risk groups," he said. However, "infection among low-risk groups, has also increased".

Sujudi explained the trend could result from the fact that the high-risk groups, such as patrons of brothels, have spread the disease to the low-risk groups.

Official records currently put the number of HIV/AIDS cases at 355, with 269 people known to have tested positive on HIV and 86 people suffer from full-blown AIDS. Jakarta, with 118 cases, ranks first, followed by Irian Jaya with 96 cases. (swe)