HIV PREVENTION CRUCIAL TO END AIDS EPIDEMIC by Fardah

 Jakarta, Dec 1, 2016 (Antara)- World AIDS Day is held on the 1st December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate people who have died.

        Held for the first time in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day,  aimed at raising awareness of AIDS epidemic, according to information on www.worldaidsday.org.

        Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.   
    An estimated 34 million people have the virus globally.

         The theme of World AIDS Day this year is "Hands Up For #HIVPrevention," which is highlighting how HIV prevention needs to be re-invigorated as a crucial part of efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

         Prevention programs that include  providing HIV information, condom distribution and outreach to young people and key populations, are often the first entry point for individuals to HIV testing and treatment.

          In Indonesia, the commemoration of World AIDS Day was centered in Surabaya, that has the highest number of HIV virus infection in the country.

         "East Java is a province with high rate of HIV infection, along with Jakarta, Papua, West and Central Java," Indonesia's Health Minister Nila F Moeloek said while leading the function in Surabaya, East Java, on Dec 1.

        The minister promoted the voluntary HIV test for public during the function.

         The call was part of Care for HIV/AIDS campaign under the slogan of TOP, which focuses on the efforts to find HIV-infected persons, to cure them and to maintain their quality of life.

         The government has a special concern on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, as the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (ODHA) has reached 191,073 from 2005 to December 2015.

        Based on figures from the Ministry of Health, the number of Indonesians infected by HIV is estimated to be 96,480, comprising 61,196 men and 35,284 women, at present.

        Some 66 percent of HIV/AIDS cases are sexually transmitted as a result of heterosexual relationships, 11 percent through contaminated syringes, three percent through gay sexual relations and three percent from infected mothers.

          The highest number of HIV/AIDS infection were found among housewives (10,626 cases), followed by non-professional workers (9,603 cases), entrepreneurs (9,439 cases), farmers/fishermen (3,674 cases), laborers (3,191 cases), sex workers (2,578 cases), civil servants (1,819 cases) and students (1,764 cases).

          "The data has become our basis in the strategy to focus on approaches to family and the community to prevent and control HIV/AIDS," the minister remarked.

         Nila said that HIV/AIDS prevention and control should be done jointly by the government and all the elements of the society to achieve its goals.

          She pointed out that the government would need to empower the society to improve its capability to promote a healthy life style and play an active role in health sector development.

         "We hope and call on the society to not be hesitant or afraid to take the HIV test, not to discriminate those who have taken the HIV test, and not to give bad stigma to HIV-infected persons, because every single person carries the same chance of being infected by HIV," she stressed.

         Delays in taking HIV test could be fatal, as a total of 43,095 AIDS carriers are expected to die in 2016, up almost 100 percent compared to those in 2011.

          "Among the 43 thousand AIDS carriers, 27,937 are men, while the number of women dying of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome is estimated to be 15,158," Pattrick Wauran, health observer of the University of Indonesia (UI) said.

        He stated that the number of AIDS sufferers who died increased significantly in 2011 compared to those in the following years.

        In 2011, a total of 23,818 AIDS carriers died, with the numbers increasing to 27,323 in 2012; 31,221 in 2013; 33,079 in 2014; and 39,119 in 2015.

         "These figures showed a sharp increase and necessitates us to find ways to reduce the number of AIDS victims," he pointed out.

        "An increase by 11 percent per annum will pose a threat to the younger generation of Indonesia in the coming 20 to 30 years," Wauran added.

        He also gave a shocking data showing that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men (MSM) is estimated to reach 153,771 in 2016, an increase of 225 percent from 68,175 in 2011.

          "The HIV/AIDS prevalence among MSM jumped by 225 percent within five years, which is a scary number," he remarked.

          The number of people with HIV/AIDs infected through drug injections decreased from 28,944 in 2011 to 21,559 in 2016.

          The government should make breakthroughs and issue regulations to minimize MSM and other sexual deviation behaviors, as well as to prevent unprotected sex, particularly among commercial sex workers, he noted.

         HIV prevention is key to ending the AIDS epidemic among young women, and the cycle of HIV infection needs to be broken.

         In the meantime, in Papua which also has a very high number of HIV/AIDS patients, the governments of Indonesia and Japan have built a shelter for HIV/AIDS carriers to serve as a place for recovery after being treated at hospitals in Jayawijaya District.

        Kentaro Abe, Third Secretary of the Japanese embassy said recently that the shelter was built at a cost of Rp1,166,933,000 as a  grant from Japanese grass root.

         "The project development was approved  by the Japanese government  and a health care foundation, Yayasan Pengembangan Kesehatan Masyarakat Papua, in March  2016," Kentaro said.

         He said the shelter plays an important role in supporting patients infected by HIV, as a recuperation place  after having hospital treatment. 
    It is also a facility to socialize protection from infectious  diseases including HIV/AIDs.

         "So far Yayasan Pengembangan Kesehatan Masyarakat Papua has to rent a house to be used as shelter, therefore, was not suitable in designed  and in facilities to accommodate the patients.

         The shelters has four rooms , auditorium, counseling room, kitchen  and laundering room. ***4***
(f001/H-YH)

(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf) 01-12-2016