Schools reluctant to join the HIV/AIDS discussion
Schools reluctant to join the HIV/AIDS discussion
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An activist said that most schools in Jakarta would not allow
their students to join a talkshow about HIV/AIDS and sex
education because "they are too young to know and understand
those issues".
Baby Jim Aditya, head of Partisan organization that focuses
its activities on HIV/AIDS issues, emphasized on Saturday the
importance of sex education and information about HIV/AIDS so
that teenagers would not get inaccurate or incomplete
information.
His statement was supported by Emir Caesario, a student from
SMP 11 state junior high school in South Jakarta.
"There should be an event like this, at least once a month.
It's really important to learn about sex education and HIV/AIDS
in a fun way," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a
discussion titled: Youths Talk about Sex, Drugs and AIDS at the
Bulungan Youth Center in South Jakarta.
The discussion was held by Partisan and the Coca Cola
Foundation Indonesia to commemorate World AIDS Day which fell on
Dec. 1.
Emir suggested the organizers move the venue to attract more
students to come.
"They'd better hold such events from one school to another."
He added that he had read some information on how HIV/AIDS was
transferred.
"I knew that it could be transferred through needles and
unprotected sex but this discussion provided more detailed
information and the way they delivered it helped me to understand
better," he said.
Data from the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA) shows
that half the people living with HIV, aged between 15 and 24
years old, spread the virus because of their lack of knowledge
about HIV/AIDS.
There are around 150,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, with
some 80,000 of them infected with HIV in this year alone,
according to data from the United Nations. Of the 80,000 cases,
68,000 were infected by sharing needles when injecting drugs.
The data differs with figures released by the Ministry of
Health that the total accumulative number of HIV/AIDS cases in
the country since 1987 is 3,926.
On the sidelines of the discussion, Deki, who is living with
HIV, regretted the discrimination from the public, mostly caused
by a lack of knowledge about the issue.
"People must change their mind-set about individuals with
HIV/AIDS. We can still do a lot of valuable things," he said.
The 22-year-old activist at the Pelita Plus Foundation said
that for three months he had refused to accept the fact that he
was infected with HIV after a drug rehabilitation program.
"I was very distressed and refused to talk to others, even to
my own family who has always encouraged me to survive," he said.
Deki joined the foundation around three years ago to assist
other individuals with HIV/AIDS.