Sexual Health Key in HIV/AIDS Prevention
Jakarta. Days were gloomy for 30-year-old Ayu Oktariani when her husband, a former drug addict, died of AIDS in 2009. She soon discovered that he had infected her with HIV.
After six months of sorrow and denial, Ayu went out to meet others also living with one of the world's most infectious killers, and began the period of physiological healing.
Now Ayu is a well-known blogger and an activist for the Indonesian Positive Women Network (IPPI). She is also expecting a baby from her new husband, Febby Lorentz, a fellow activist she met in 2014.
"Living with HIV is not difficult. I just need to discipline myself to remember my antiretroviral therapy," Ayu said.
Every 12 hours, she takes antiretroviral drugs – which inhibit the replication of the virus and supports the immune system to deal with secondary infections. Forgetting one dose can threaten the body's immunity.
Her pregnancy has been marked by continuous medical consultations. Everything has been well-planned, including the therapy, moment of conception, sexual activity, labor and breastfeeding.
Ayu wants to prove that HIV does not need to mean the end of one's sexual life or chances to have children.
"With the well-planned pregnancy, I am sure my baby will not have the virus," Ayu said.
According to Ayu, who has been living with HIV for seven years now, the biggest threat is in being unaware of the disease and not having enough information about it.
"Many in Indonesia will discriminate [against infected people]. It is easy to be cynical and forget that the threat can be everywhere," Ayu said.
Numbers Continue to Grow
The Ministry of Health recorded 17,847 new cases of HIV infection and 3,267 new cases of AIDS in the first half of this year.
The ministry's data also show that 42.1 percent of infections were contracted during heterosexual intercourse, 32.5 percent during homosexual intercourse, and 7.1 from sharing unclean needles.
Although the highest risk of infection comes from sexual activities, in Indonesia awareness of safe sex is far from sufficient, as people still do not even opt for condoms, DKT Indonesia, a nonprofit organization that focuses on family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention, told the Jakarta Globe.
Fewer than 175 million condoms are sold annually in the country with a population of nearly 250 million.
Pierre Frederick of DKT Indonesia said it would be best to promote sex education at schools and universities, but the campaign could trigger a strong backlash from certain groups, which would see it as promoting premarital sex.
"As long as we talk about more general issues, like social aspects of HIV/AIDS, I think it should be all right. We do not talk about condoms, but sexual health," Pierre said.
During a high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on ending HIV/AIDS in New York earlier this year, Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek said the Indonesian government is prepared to pay for 60 percent of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in the country.
She added that the ministry has also equipped hundreds of public health centers, locally known as Puskesmas, to conduct antibody screening tests. More than a million Indonesians were tested for HIV in 2014 and 2015.
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