Remote Timika fights AIDS in its own way

Remote Timika fights AIDS in its own way

TIMIKA, Irian Jaya (JP): Behind Timika Community Health
Center, there is a small house measuring five square meters.

A billboard outside says "Reproduction Clinic, Timika
Community Health Center" and beneath it are posters about the
dangers of HIV and AIDS.

Inside, there are two counseling rooms with beds and medical
equipment. Brochures, condoms and a wooden penis are strewn about
the front desk.

"We've been running this clinic for three years now," said
Nurlan Silitonga, who, with four staff, is in charge in the
clinic, five laboratory technicians and two field staff.

Nurlan's appearance is not one of a typical doctor. Tall and
slim, her straight hair falls to her waist. She wore a bright red
blouse and miniskirt, complete with red lipstick and high heels.

She said she was afraid of reporters.

"I'm afraid they will twist the facts. HIV and AIDS are very
sensitive matters, especially here in Irian Jaya," she said.

This easternmost province has the highest number of HIV and
AIDS cases in Indonesia.

The Ministry of Health recorded from 1996 to July this year,
393 cases of HIV and AIDS in Irian Jaya, 19 more than Jakarta.

Irian Jaya, which has an area of 421,981 square kilometers, is
three times larger than Java, and has a population of only
2,098,310, or almost a quarter of Jakarta's population.

Eighty-five percent of the people there live in rural areas
which are difficult to reach.

Similar to general opinions about HIV and AIDS, many Irianese
still think the condition is related to sexual behavior.

"Many also think it's a curse, or worse: they think some
people deliberately spread the (HIV) virus to cleanse the Irian
people," Nurlan said.

An hours' flight from the capital of Jayapura, Timika is
ranked third in the incidence of HIV and AIDS after Merauke and
Fakfak, according to the Ministry of Health's provincial office.

Up to July this year, there have been 43 cases of HIV and four
AIDS cases in Timika, which has an area of 19,592 square
kilometers and a population of over 100,000.

Timika is a stopover for employees of giant mining company PT
Freeport Indonesia, located in the mountainous Tembagapura, some
70 kilometers from here.

It is a developed town, providing visitors with a shopping
mall, five-star hotel and an international airport. All of which
are similar to those in Jakarta, or even better.

"Every weekend, there are buses full of Freeport employees who
came down here from Tembagapura. The residents here call the bus
bis kerinduan (longing bus)," Nurlan said.

Some employees visit their families, but some just have a good
time in bars and the red-light district.

"These people are at a high risk of being infected with HIV,"
Nurlan said.

That's why Nurlan, in cooperation with the local
administration and non-governmental organizations here, conducts
a safety program to give information to Freeport employees and
people in Timika.

The clinic provides brochures and comic books which illustrate
the danger of HIV/AIDS, and also gives out free condoms -- 16,500
so far.

Nurlan and her staff have also trained some 150 residents,
including midwives, to inform the community.

"We haven't surveyed the program's effectiveness. But there
are more people coming to our clinic for checkups or simply to
ask for condoms. There has also been about a 16 percent decline
in the number of people with sexually transmitted diseases in the
past three years. We take that as a good indication," she added.

In the past three years, the clinic has been visited by about
19,000 people, with an average 600-700 visitors a month, ranging
from prostitutes to employees and housewives.

"We also conduct AIDS awareness activities every year," Nurlan
said.

What makes her worry is the high demand from local residents
to close the red-light district and bars.

"It will be hard for us to control the prostitutes as they
will work on the streets," she said, adding that most of the
prostitutes come from other islands, such as Java and Sulawesi.

The ministry's Director General of Communicable Disease
Control and Environmental Health Umar Fahmi Achmadi also
expressed his concern.

"These areas help control the condition. Prostitution is a
matter of people's behavior. How can we control people's
behavior? It's a very personal thing," Umar said.

An official of the local Ministry of Health office, Didik
Irawan, said it was unlikely that HIV and AIDS patients in Irian
Jaya would survive more than a year, like in other provinces.

"The combination of poor health conditions and bad nutrition
makes way for opportunist diseases that lead to AIDS and a quick
death," he said.

-- Hera Diani