Public awareness of AIDS improves
JAKARTA (JP): The first national conference on AIDS started here yesterday with speakers expressing optimism about increasing public awareness of the life-threatening condition.
The three-day conference is the largest in a series of AIDS gatherings held annually in the country. Some 400 officials, policy makers, religious leaders, doctors and researchers from Indonesia and foreign countries, people with AIDS, activists, and journalists are attending.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas opened the meeting reiterating the government's commitment to fight the disease, increase awareness about its dangers and disseminate all programs to the public.
"We need to join forces to combat the disease," Azwar said.
He said 407 Indonesians have been infected by HIV -- the Human Immunodeficiency Virus -- which causes AIDS, and estimated that unless all preventive and curative measures are taken the number of HIV-infected Indonesians is predicted to soar to 2.5 million by the year 2000.
By then, each patient will require medical treatment costing a minimum Rp 164 million (US$70,000) a year, making the total expected bill Rp 33 trillion. This is one third of the annual State Budget of Rp 95 trillion, the minister explained.
Quoting the United Nations' latest data, the minister said that 21.8 million people around the world are living with HIV or AIDS. About 8,500 people become infected with HIV daily -- five every minute; almost half are women, and 1,000 are children.
About 5.8 million people have died as a result of contracting the condition, which destroys the immune system, since the global epidemic took hold in the early l980s.
Experts say a very conservative annual estimate of the cost of drug therapy for the 21.8 million HIV-infected people is US$200 billion.
Azwar said that, in addition to all preventive and medical measures, religion and moral values remain important aspects in combating the disease.
K.H. Ali Yafie, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, shared the minister's opinion, saying that AIDS is "a disease of our life-style.
"Moral values and religion can be used to defend oneself from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases," Yafie said.
Ulemas, he said, have started campaigning against behavior that can lead to AIDS in their speeches and sermons. "We are trying hard to arouse people's awareness of the danger of AIDS," he said.
Azwar added that even in developed countries, moral values have become a major element in anti-AIDS campaigns.
In the United States and other Western countries, the A-B-C AIDS campaign has been very popular. A stands for Abstinence, B stands for Be Faithful and C stands for use a Condom.
Yafie said the ulemas council neither accepts nor rejects the use of condoms either in the national family planning program or in the prevention of AIDS.
"The council supports the use of condoms in certain cases. For example, a man who is infected with HIV is obliged to wear a condom when having sex with his wife," the ulema continued.
Amien Rais, the chairman of Muhammadiyah Moslem organization, called on all other religious organizations to participate in educating the public about AIDS.
The three-day conference will include scientific lectures, discussions and an exhibition. Today's sessions include discussions on alternative medical treatment for AIDS patients, AIDS and Women and Children and the role of the media and the private sectors in dealing with AIDS. (raw)