On AIDS cases

It is a pity that in his generally accurate article on AIDS in Indonesia, An uphill battle against AIDS in Indonesia ( The Jakarta Post, Dec. 3, page 7), Thang D. Nguyen perpetuates the myth that "... gays are one of the largest groups of AIDS victims [in Indonesia]".

Apart from his unfortunate reference to "AIDS victims" -- a term which has been considered taboo in the press since the 1983 Denver Declaration -- the fact is that only 6.3 percent of the AIDS cases reported to the Ministry of Health resulted from what is termed homosexual activity. And it is probable that the majority of these cases are among waria (transsexuals), who do not consider themselves as "gay".

Now I know that I always argue that we should take care in extrapolating these reported statistics to the total population of those living with AIDS. But the fact is that in Indonesia, by far the majority of HIV infections result from injecting drug use and from heterosexual activities.

Many in Indonesia still believe that AIDS is a disease of gays and foreigners. The Post should beware of perpetuating this myth. The writer should also be aware that his statement that "AIDS victims dare not speak out and contribute to this fight by educating others ..." ignores the fact that, despite the risks, a significant number of people living with HIV/AIDS within the Spiritia network do speak out, including on TV. They do indeed play a very important role in this education process.

CHRIS W. GREEN Treatment Educator Spiritia Foundation Jakarta