NGOs told to take anti-AIDS drive to prostitutes
NGOs told to take anti-AIDS drive to prostitutes
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is reluctant to launch drives against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in areas where prostitution is rampant, fearing the campaigns would lead the public to think they were authorized red-light districts.
The spokesperson for the City Health Office, Rita Kusriastuti, said yesterday that the city administration has never provided medical care for prostitutes at any area other than Kramat Tunggak in North Jakarta.
The administration has attempted to contain all organized prostitution at Kramat Tunggak red-light district. It is the only area in which the authorities tolerate the flesh trade.
Prostitution centers like Bongkaran in Central Jakarta, Kalijodo in West Jakarta, Boker in East Jakarta, and Kampung Perancis in Bekasi are not authorized.
Rita said that providing medical treatment and knowledge about AIDS to prostitutes in red-light complexes could be seen as authorizing their operation.
"We call on non-governmental organizations to help us deal with prostitutes in the unauthorized red-light districts," she said.
She said that unauthorized red-light districts have the potential to spread AIDS, but she did not say why the government does not put an end to them.
"We urge NGOs to work hand in hand with the government in taking the prevention program to prostitutes in unauthorized places," she said.
Rita said that the first AIDS case was found in Jakarta in 1987. Within just eight years Jakarta is now the province with the highest number of HIV and AIDS cases in the country.
She said Jakarta has 69 HIV cases and 49 AIDS cases, with 31 deaths occurring in Jakarta. "Most of the cases were infected through sexual relations," Rita said.
The city administration has formed a special commission to handle AIDS. The commission has created a five-year target program to combat the spread of AIDS in the city.
Rita said that the city health agency allocated a Rp 200 million (US$88,888) fund for the AIDS prevention program during the 1994/1995 fiscal year, and Rp 250 million this fiscal year.
"The World Bank and USAID provide the city administration with a total of Rp 20 billion and Rp 5 billion in loans respectively for the anti-AIDS campaigns," Rita said. The World Bank loans will be given within three years and the USAID loans will be given within five years. (yns)