Save-sex program introduced to military
Save-sex program introduced to military
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta
Acknowledging that soldiers are vulnerable to Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STDs) during missions across the country,
the Ministry of Defense has initiated a program to prevent the
spread of HIV and other STDs among military personnel.
The ministry said on Wednesday it was following the lead of
the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), which
cooperate with the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) in
promoting the use of condoms to reduce the risk of STDs.
The ministry's Director General of National Resilience Rear
Marshall Pieter L.D. Wattimena admitted the program might spark
controversy as it could be regarded as a justification for
promiscuity in the military.
"I can't blame those who may think that distributing condoms
for soldiers will encourage them to have sex out of wedlock. But
we can't deny that as human beings soldiers need it especially
when they are joining a military operation far away from home,"
Wattimena said in his address to 220 officers who had just been
installed as the program's peer leaders.
Wattimena declined to reveal data on the number of soldiers
who had contracted STDs, but an officer who asked for anonymity
said almost 60 percent of Army soldiers leaving for Aceh for the
second six months of the military operation in the province in
January tested positive for STDs.
The peer leaders had undergone a two-week course on HIV/AIDS
sponsored by UNAIDS.
Each of them received a kit, including a dildo, a box of
condoms, articles and data on HIV/AIDS and a guidebook to enable
them to share their knowledge with their colleagues.
"If people know that soldiers have to move from one operation
to another, with one operation lasting six months, they will
understand why we have to provide them with condoms," Wattimena
said.
Data from the Ministry of Health in 2003 revealed that nearly
26.4 percent of between 124,000 and 169,000 people with HIV/AIDS
had contracted it through sexual intercourse or injecting drugs
with shared needles.
"Due to the high prevalence of HIV in Papua, we require a
comprehensive medical checkup for soldiers departing for and
arriving from the area," Wattimena said.
The ministry, he added, had also asked the BKKBN to install
condom vending machines in places accessible to soldiers
departing for a mission. A customer can buy a pack of five
condoms for Rp 1,900 (US 20 cent) per transaction.
Wattimena said a customer would have to register with the
ministry and receive a card that will record each transaction he
or she makes.