SE Asian ulemas to discuss HIV/AIDS
SE Asian ulemas to discuss HIV/AIDS
JAKARTA (JP): Moslem clerics from Southeast Asia will discuss
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in a workshop on Tuesday in
conjunction with World AIDS Day.
The workshop will be opened at Hotel Indonesia by Minister of
Religious Affairs Malik Fajar, the ministry said. However, no
other details were given about the discussion, titled Workshop of
Ulemas from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on
HIV/AIDS.
Recommendations of safe sex as one step to prevent HIV/AIDS
has been controversial here, with religious leaders saying
promoting safe sex could encourage promiscuity.
The workshop will be one of several commemorations of World
AIDS Day in Jakarta and Surabaya.
Other planned events are talk shows, social awareness
campaigns and discussions, performances and exhibitions.
The communications director of the Futures Group, a
consultancy firm focusing on social marketing, said the group was
working with the government and the United States Agency for
International Development on a HIV/AIDS prevention project.
Talk shows will be screened on a number of television stations
this week. SCTV will feature HIV/AIDS activist Baby Jim Aditya on
Dec. 5.
In Surabaya, an exhibition will be held at the French Cultural
Center to Dec. 5, while talks on sex education are planned for
Tuesday. Speakers are to include Lies Marcoes Natsir, a
researcher on Moslem teachings, and sexologist Wimpie Pangkahila.
The event is being be organized by Surabaya's Surya Hotline
Service Foundation.
Samsuridjal Djauzi of Pelita Ilmu Foundation has predicted
that young people, especially women in rural areas between 15 and
24 years old, risk being infected with HIV because of the limited
working options they have.
He said more women were likely to turn to prostitution as a
result of unemployment and "they should at least know how to
protect themselves".
As of October, the Ministry of Health recorded 776 reported
HIV/AIDS cases nationwide, of which 555 were HIV-positive and 221
people had full-blown AIDS. Of the 221 people with AIDS, 111 have
died. (anr)