Unfocused response to AIDS in Indonesia
Maclaren, L.
Aidslink Eastern Central and Southern Africa 44: 6-7
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0856-3969 PMID: 12320962 Document Number: 268502
Indonesia has a population of more than 200 million among which less than 500 official cases of HIV/AIDS have been recorded. The number of estimated cases is far greater. High rates of male migration, widespread prostitution, high rates of sexually transmitted disease infection, the absence of sex education for youth, women's low status, and the absence of a national AIDS awareness campaign were cited in 1993 as reasons why HIV would spread quickly throughout Indonesia. Access to basic information about AIDS remains a problem for both urban and rural populations in Indonesia. A national AIDS strategy was made public in 1993 by President Suharto. Supported by the Australians, the plan comprehensively covers almost every key aspect in managing HIV/AIDS. The plan since its release, however, has been largely ignored and the government has done little aside from a handful of television public service announcements, a few pamphlets distributed by the Department of Health, a few small HIV surveillance projects which have yielded little useful information, and the training of government officials to provide AIDS education. Approximately 15 nongovernmental organizations have been actively and successfully conducting AIDS prevention work.