Group steps up campaign in fight against HIV/AIDS

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Mon, 05/26/2008 10:19 AM  |  Bali

The local chapter of the National AIDS Commission will join forces with local NGOs and community groups to step up efforts in educating the public about HIV/AIDS-related issues on the tourist island.

"An estimated 4,000 people on the island are living with HIV/AIDS, but the number of recorded cases as at March 2008 is 1,986," Ilyas Pawelloi, program manager of Bali chapter of the National AIDS Commission (KPAD) said Friday.

He said more than 2,000 infected people had remained undetected and unrecorded by the official health system.

"And it is our responsibility to connect them with the health service providers," Ilyas said.

Nationally, up to 210,000 people have been infected by the fatal disease, often transferred among drug users through needles.

The nature of the disease, particularly the long period between infection and the emergence of symptoms, means a large number of infected people are not aware of their status. Those at risk of contracting the disease are often reluctant to get tested and receive treatment from designated medical institutions.

The reluctance has been understandable because of fears of social discrimination by hospitals and other people.

These factors have played a crucial role in hindering relevant stakeholders from providing accurate data on people with HIV/AIDS and helping curb the spread of the disease.

According to Pawelloi, NGOs and community groups should enhance cooperation and coordination with the KPAD to run campaigns about the disease to help curb the epidemic.

"We have to continue expanding our programs to reach more and more people with HIV/AIDS," he said.

KPAD spokeswoman Mercya Susanto said HIV/AIDS patients faced two main challenges.

"They have to deal with their disease as well as with the stigma and discrimination within the environment where they live," she said.

She said outreach workers should be able to make contact with high-risk groups, including sex workers and drug users.

"We are grateful the number of regional administrations that display genuine concern about this issue has increased," she said.

The island, she added, now had Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) clinics in five of its nine regencies. The five regencies are Denpasar, Badung, Jembrana, Gianyar and Buleleng.

Ilyas said they had received proposals from other regents to establish similar clinics in their regions.

"We are targeting new VCT clinics in other regencies to start operation this year," he said.

He said the commission also conducted training for VCT counselors, mostly volunteers.

"As of this year we will expand the training to the health service officers so they will also understand how to work with people with HIV/AIDS," he said.

Pawelloi said the KPAD had planned various programs with local NGOs in their joint efforts to achieve the main goals.

"We will involve different communities in each program," he said.

One of the programs is the AIDS Candlelight Vigil to be held Sunday night at the Puputan Badung square in Denpasar. Members of the city's biker communities will take part in the event.

A member of the Vigil's Steering Committee, Maurits Pangemanan, said they would distribute questionnaires to participants to gauge their knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

"The results of the questionnaires will help us see whether we need to conduct more events to improve people's awareness of AIDS," he said.

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