Soldiers in dark about HIV/AIDS, activist says

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Soldiers are vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS due to their lack of awareness about the issue, a Papuan AIDS activist said on Wednesday.

On top of that, soldiers are very mobile as they are constantly assigned from city to remote areas and vice versa, a situation that is likely to encourage multiple sex partners, said AIDS activist, Robert Sihombing.

"A large number of soldiers are also said to be providing protection for the sex trade, thus placing them in a high-risk environment for the spread of the virus," said the activist, who helped treat six TNI soldiers infected with HIV/AIDS for between four and six months each until their deaths between 2002 and early 2004.

Robert described the soldiers as being young, between 24 and 28, and unmarried.

"Because of their high mobility between city and remote areas, they might have contracted the virus in the remote areas as they were still young and sexually active, and did not know the risks of being infected by HIV," Robert said.

He said that antiretroviral (ARV) drugs were not available at that time. They were only given medicines to cure AIDS-related illnesses.

"The six soldiers suffered severe depression because they were ostracized by their units. No one visited them, and if anyone came, it would only be a representative from their respective units to extend their sick leave," he said.

Robert said the soldiers knew little about HIV/AIDS, and had not thought about the dangers when engaging in sex.

He said that everybody was vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, be they soldiers or members of the public at large, if they had engaged in high-risk activity, such as frequently changing partners and not using condoms.

Robert said that the TNI was working together with non- governmental organizations only at the counseling level thus far, and was doing nothing to treat the victims.

The six soldiers were only found to have HIV/AIDS based on the results of blood tests taken after they fell sick. One of them died at the Dok II municipal hospital in Jayapura, while the other five died at home.

Robert suggested that soldiers be taught about HIV/AIDS before being posted to Papua to prevent them from becoming infected. "They should be provided with condoms, not to encourage them to engage in sex, but just to be on the safe side," he said.

The commander of the Jayapura Military Command, Lt. Col. Viktor Tobing, denied that TNI soldiers in Papua were ill- informed about HIV/AIDS. "The soldiers and their families have always been taught about HIV/AIDS through counseling and training," he said.

According to Viktor, the attitude to HIV/AIDS depended on each individual. "Even if they are already fully informed about it but can't restrain themselves from sex, they will still be infected. All this depends on the person," he said.

Both Robert and Victor were commenting on a TNI statement that 48 soldiers from the Papua military command have contracted HIV/AIDS since 2000, 12 of whom have died.

A soldier with the military command, Jefriando, said that whenever he was assigned to remote areas and had to leave his wife for a long time, he constantly tried to refrain from sex. "If I can't do without sex, I'll use a condom. But, if I don't have one, I'll just masturbate," Jefriando confided.