Official says condoms vital for military operations

JAKARTA (JP): A senior official at the Ministry of Health has warned the government it is not enough to arm the Indonesian Military (TNI) only with ammunition when they are deployed in military operations where they have to leave their family for long periods.

Physician Broto Wasisto said the government should provide condoms for the soldiers each time they are sent on a long military operation to protect them from diseases like HIV/AIDS.

Although there are still no reports of soldiers infected with the fatal virus, it's time for TNI to reactivate its policy of supplying its personnel with condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, he noted.

According to Broto, military personnel, like travelers, are considered a vulnerable group, who are likely to contract HIV and to spread it through sexual contacts.

"We have to protect our soldiers from such possibilities. We have to supply them with condoms and to give them information on the risks of unprotected sex," said Broto in a discussion at the ministry last week.

However Broto added that although the military is likely to be exposed to the disease, the fact that soldiers are required to follow the chain of command will make it easier to enforce the use of condoms.

Meanwhile, Director General for Contagious Diseases, Umar Fachmi Achmadi, revealed that international peacekeeping forces are included in the vulnerable groups mapped during the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS last month.

"It has become a threat because they are crossing borders which enables the virus to spread more easily," he told journalists.(bby)