Sex lessons to prevent HIV/AIDS

JAKARTA (JP): Leading AIDS advocates called yesterday for sex education classes in schools so children can learn how to protect themselves from the disease.

Legislator Nafsiah Mboi said sex education should make children aware of the dangers of irresponsible sexual behavior.

She maintained that the classes would not be aimed at encouraging premarital sex but rather help students understand the virtues of abstinence.

The program should involve the government, educators, health assistants and the community at large, Nafsiah, who is a rapporteur for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, said.

"We could prevent HIV infection from spreading," she said. "Once you get the virus, you'll have to use expensive medication and often it's of no use."

She said providing basic education on the disease should begin at a young age, even before children become sexually active.

The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Official figures indicate that 578 people reportedly suffer from AIDS or are HIV positive. However, many experts believe the true number is several times higher.

Speaking at a seminar on AIDS here yesterday, Nafsiah Mboi said the increase in AIDS cases coincided with the rise of child exploitation.

The United Nations estimated that by the end of 1996, some 2.6 million children were HIV carriers.

In Indonesia, a University of Indonesia survey team predicts that by the year 2005, between 200,000 to 550,000 children will lose their parents because of AIDS, she said.

Nafsiah admits that society still views sex education in a negative light, believing that it will make children prone to sexual activity.

Directorate General for Contagious Disease Control and Settlement Environmental Sanitation Hadi M. Abednego said the Ministry of Health was still searching for an appropriate definition of "sex education", as most people perceive it as merely lessons on sexual copulation. (09)