UNAIDS pursue broader response

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Wednesday opened a new secretariat here, with the aim of encouraging a wider community response to the fight against the virus.

"In the last 12 months, we have started to work more closely with the community and people living with AIDS directly. The space in the office is for those in the AIDS community to come and go, and communicate (with us) on a regular basis," UNAIDS country coordinator for Indonesia Jane Wilson told The Jakarta Post.

UNAIDS is the coordinating body on HIV/AIDS and works with other UN organizations, such as the UN Children's Fund (Unicef), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).

"(With the new secretariat), I think strategic information will become more available for decision-makers, community groups and young people," UNAIDS director for the department of country and regional support, Michel Sidibe, told the Post.

The new secretariat is located at the Menara Thamrin building in Central Jakarta.

Sidibe said the dissemination of information on HIV/AIDS was relatively low here, causing misunderstandings that led to serious discrimination against people living with the virus.

Many people in Indonesia were not aware of how HIV was spread, with some thinking they could be infected by sharing a swimming pool with those who were HIV positive or had AIDS, which was untrue, Wilson said.

The secretariat would aim to attract donations from the community to support people with AIDS and encourage the development of a think tank to consider national strategies against the disease, Sidibe said.

Accurate information on HIV/AIDS would help prevent people from being infected with HIV and those living with the virus from being discriminated against, he said.

Indonesia's National Planning Strategy 2001/2003 team revealed discrimination against people living with AIDS here remained high, in part due to the absence of laws and regulations on the issue.

Official health statistics for October 2003 put the number of people known to have HIV/AIDS in the country at over 130,000.

However, independent bodies estimate the actual number of people with HIV/AIDS is likely to be far higher.

The first case of AIDS was discovered in Indonesia in 1987.