Wives and children innocent victims of HIV transmission

Sari P. Setiogi and Jongker Rumteh, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Manado

Nobody could have ever imagined years ago that HIV could decimate families, transmitted to innocent women by their husbands and to children by their mothers.

"My husband never told me that he was HIV positive. I never knew ... we lived our lives normally, including our sex life," said a 26-year-old woman,

Alina (not her real name) became a housewife after she married Donny (not his real name) in 2000. She knew her husband was an injecting drug user, but she never realized that his addiction could expose him to the HIV.

She first realized that she had been infected by the virus after their son was born.

"My son was three months old in March 2002. He suffered from diarrhea and was hospitalized for five months. His weight dropped rapidly to only three kilograms," Alina recalled on Tuesday.

A pediatrician suggested Alina let her undergo a blood test for HIV/AIDS, to which she agreed. It was only after the results came back that she found out to her horror that her son was HIV positive.

"How could it be ..." Alina said in tears. "I hate my husband and I can never forgive him."

The couple separated for a year, during which time Alina also tested positive for the virus.

HIV/AIDS activist, Baby Jim Aditya, told The Jakarta Post that an estimated eight to 10 million husbands throughout the country were clients of commercial sex workers.

"Those promiscuous men put their wives in danger of being infected with HIV," she said.

Director of Communicable Disease Control with the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), Pandu Riono, also highlighted the risk among what were previously considered to be lower risk sections of community, such as housewives and young children.

"The possibility that they have been infected with the virus might be the last thing on their mind. They might be unaware of the need for blood tests, and the dissemination of information on HIV to this group never occurred to the government and non- governmental organizations," said Pandu.

Pandu said all HIV/AIDS campaigns, education and training here concentrated on the so-called high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, transvestites, homosexuals and injecting drug users (IDU).

"We always forget that the clients of commercial sex workers and transvestites, the sexual partners of the homosexuals and the IDUs can harm their wives, children and partners," said Pandu who is also the Surveillance and Data Use Specialist of Family Health International.

A rough estimate puts the number of people with HIV/AIDS in the country at between 90,000 and 130,000, although official figures had only recorded 5,000 cases as of September 2004.

"When talking about HIV/AIDS here, people link it with bad morals. Most people are still believe that only 'sinners' can catch HIV/AIDS. Many will shun them, even their own friends and families," said Baby.

People with the virus, however, could continue to live normal lives.

Ryan, a 23-year-old woman who was infected by a dirty needle, said she could still practice karate, play the drums with her band and write plays.

"Please do not isolate us. The virus is not airborne. It can only be contracted through bodily fluids," she said.

However, she was afraid of telling her boyfriend's parents. "It might take a while ...," she explained.