Working committee on HIV/AIDS in jails formed

Working committee on HIV/AIDS in jails formed

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Alarmed by the rising number of inmates testing positive for
HIV/AIDS, the government and non-governmental organizations
have formed a national working committee as part of an attempt to
help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in penitentiaries.

During a meeting with health agencies and prison wardens here
on Monday, the working committee revealed that an increase in the
number of intravenous drug users (IDUs) sharing needles with one
another and unsafe sexual practices were the major causes of the
rise in HIV/AIDS among inmates.

Data from the Ministry of Health and the National Narcotics
Agency (BNN) show that in the Salemba penitentiary in Central
Jakarta, only 0.2 percent of 497 blood samples taken anonymously
in 1998 were HIV positive. In 2001, however, 22 percent of the
250 inmates tested were found to be HIV positive.

In the Kerobokan prison in Kuta, Bali, 35 out of 62 inmates,
who were also IDUs, were found to be HIV positive in 2001.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights' director for
narcotics, Soejoto, said on the sidelines of the meeting that
the committee would first concentrate on fourteen prisons housing
large numbers of narcotics inmates.

There were 383 correctional facilities across Indonesia with
approximately 68,000 detainees and inmates in 2002.

"Up to the end of this year, our focus is to raise awareness
by giving information to inmates and wardens on HIV/AIDS," said
Soejoto, who is also the chairperson of the committee.

The national committee includes representatives of the
Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IHPCP), the BNN,
the Ministry of Health and the National AIDS Commission (KPA).

Provincial working committees will also be established and
future programs in prisons will include counseling and voluntary
testing.

"The NGOs will fund this project and the health agencies will
provide technical assistance," said Soejoto.

Meanwhile, following a memorandum of understanding signed last
December between the BNN and KPA on harm reduction measures,
three prisons -- in Bali, Cirebon in West Java, and Cipinang in
Jakarta -- have been chosen to serve as pilot projects.

BNN director Comr. Gen. Togar Sianipar said that should these
projects fail, harm reduction, which includes needle exchange and
methadone treatment programs, would not be applied in the general
community.

Ministry of Health figures reveal that from 1987 to March 31
this year, 2,746 people were found to be HIV positive and 1,413
found with AIDS. A UNAIDS report, however, estimates the number
of people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia to be 130,000. The
government has accepted that the UNAIDS figures are probably
accurate.