Life is Healthy

• CDC advice: www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom
• AIDS information: www.aidsinfo.nih.gov
• and http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/HIVAIDS/
• Pill study: http://www.iprexnews.com
• Journal: www.nejm.org
• UNAIDS: http://tinyurl.com/krq7kr
• Prevention efforts: www.avac.org

Antara News, Wednesday, June 23, 2010 21:51 WIB

Antara News, Tuesday, June 15, 2010 17:59 WIB

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The United Nations Global Fund has provided Indonesia with Rp17.31 billion for the handling of infectious diseases in three provinces, an AIDS commission official said.

"The three provinces which have received the assistance from the Global Fund are West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Maluku," National AIDS Commission Secretary Nafsiah Mboi said here on Tuesday.

The funds will be used to handle three types of infectious diseases, namely AIDS, tuberculosis (TBC) and malaria.

She said NTB got an allocation worth Rp5.05 billion, NTT Rp7.19 billion and Maluku Rp7.07 billion.

Nafsiah Mboi said the aim of the assistance was to accelerate the efforts to prevent and handle HIV/AIDS cases in the country.

The funds come on top of those made available in state and regional budgets.

Transvestite sex workers waiting for customers in Yogyakarta. Activists are concerned that discrimination against high-risk groups is fueling a growing HIV/AIDS rate. (AFP Photo)

Ingrained social discrimination against gays and transsexuals, at times by the very health care workers charged with helping them, is a major contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS among these groups in Indonesia, activists said on Tuesday.

“The discrimination they experience, including from health officials, makes them reluctant to seek treatment to curb the spread of the virus,” said Nafsiah Mboi, secretary general of the National AIDS Prevention Commission.

Nafsiah told the Jakarta Globe that his body’s 2007 study, the Integrated Bio Behavioral Survey, found that HIV/AIDS rates among transsexuals were a staggering 35 percent, compared to 10 percent among heterosexuals.

In Indonesia, gay and bisexual men are particularly at risk from contracting the disease as they are more likely to have sexual encounters among the other groups.

“They have sex with transsexuals as well as with other gay and bisexual men,” Nafsiah said.

A UN-backed report, which was previewed on Monday, suggests the situation was mirrored throughout Asia, where gays have registered alarming levels of HIV/AIDS infection rates and are often denied access to services and care due to punitive laws that drive them underground.

According to the report, produced in part by the United Nations Development Program, “up to 30 percent of new Asian HIV infections will be gay men, unless prevention is intensified.”

The report said laws and police practices, such as Shariah law in Aceh and laws on public disturbance and prostitution, drove gay and bisexual men away from the HIV prevention services and care programs established to help them. But a more worrying finding was the report’s assertion that more than 90 percent of gay and bisexual men in Asia do not have access to prevention and care in the first place.

Rohana Manggala, head of the Jakarta AIDS Commission, pointed to the need for increased public awareness to stamp out discrimination against gays and transsexuals in Indonesian society.

“There was a recent incident where members of a hard-line Islamic group broke up an education workshop for transgender and gay groups in Depok,” she said.

Her organization strives to train community health center officials to end the discrimination, but its message often goes unheard. And that is bad news for a country grappling with a growing HIV/AIDS problem, and where 425 people die every year in the capital alone from complications caused by the virus.

Yulianus Rettoblaut, from the Indonesian Transsexuals Communication Forum, told the Globe that the problem within her community was even more pronounced. She said the country’s transsexuals were being “pushed by their environment” toward a greater risk of contracting HIV.

“Everything that happens to us is a result of discrimination, because people see us as being different from the outset,” Yulianus said.

She said that most transgender Indonesians turn to sex work as a last resort and after being denied jobs within mainstream society.

“It’s hard for us to get a job in either the formal or informal sectors, but we need to live and put food on the table,” Yulianus said. “So sex work is the only option left.”

Compounding the problem is a reluctance on the part of many clients to use protection.

“We bring condoms and ask the clients to use them, but they refuse, so what can we do?” she said.

“If, however, we were treated as regular people and not denied jobs, I believe the HIV prevalence among our group wouldn’t be so high,” she added.

According to figures from the UN, there were an estimated 193,000 people countrywide living with HIV/AIDS in 2007. But that figure surged to 270,000 just one year later.

The Health Ministry reported 47,000 cases in Jakarta alone as of October 2008, while in Papua and West Papua, fears are mounting over what some have called “epidemic-level” infection rates.

Other high-risk groups include intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers.

Rohana said her organization was trying to raise public awareness of a 2008 bylaw on HIV/AIDS prevention, but had a bone to pick with the terminology adopted by the legislators who wrote the bill.

In one archaic phrasing, “sexually transmitted disease protection tool” is used in place of the word “condom.”

“They should just have called it a ‘condom,’ as that’s something that we can campaign on more effectively,” she said.

Rohana is now lobbying the Jakarta administration to revise the bylaw to include the word “condom.”

“The problem is condoms conjure up notions of prostitution, which is why the administration glossed it over,” Rohana said.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/22/2010 11:24 AM

The lack of information and knowledge about contraceptives has contributed to the common practice of unsafe sex among sexually active youth who live in poverty in Jakarta.

Many people who live in poverty have been said to believe that condom use decreases the experience of sexual activity.

Iqbal, 30, of Kampung Sepatan in Rorotan subdistrict, Cilincing, North Jakarta, said recently that many of the youth in the neighborhood had been in sexual relations and thought condom use could reduce a couple’s intimacy.

Kampung Sepatan is one of the urban slums in Jakarta and home to around 1,400 lower-income residents, many whose livelihood’s depend on trash picking, farming and fishing.

“Using a condom while having sex is not enjoyable,” Iqbal stated.

It was said that while young people there were aware of the dangers of practicing unsafe sex, there was a social propensity among them that championed unsafe sex as a way to cement a relationship.

“My ex-girlfriend insisted that we did not use condoms to hold me responsible if she became preg-nant,” Iqbal’s friend told the The Jakarta Post on condition of anonymity, adding that using condoms in a relationship also symbolized a lack of trust.

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Reportedly many NGOs visiting the area are focused on providing young residents with more assistance with food, clothing and vocational training.

“No NGOs that have visited have provided sex education,” Adi, 20, said.

He said they received sex education from their schools in biology class, which consisted of information about their reproductive organs and function.

Similar to their counterparts in Kampung Sepatan, the young people living along Ciliwung riverbank of Bukit Duri and Kampung Pulo subdistricts, South Jakarta, also agreed that unprotected sex was a strategy to find love.

A young woman said, “I’d rather have sex without using condoms because it’s a symbol of intimacy and trust”.

Unprotected sex is a way in which a woman can ensure her boyfriend remains loyal, she said.

Zaky, 19, told the Post that they had better more informed and became aware of the dangers of unprotected sex after several NGOs recently visited their area to educate them about sex.

However, NGOs did not discuss the importance of using condoms, despite the fact that many young people there were sexually active.

“The NGOs explained the dangers of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], but not about contraception in detail,” Zaky said.

The Lamp Science Foundation (YPI), a grassroot organization active in promoting the awareness on HIV/AIDS, confirmed that its approaches to young people in lower-income urban areas had been proactive in educating them about reproductive health, STIs and HIV/AIDS prevention.

“We highlighted condom use as one way to reduce the risk of HIV infection,” YPI secretary Srisulistyurini said.

She said that premarital and unsafe sex was prevalent among the youth in shanty areas, and that sex education was the key to curbing the rapid spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS.

The YPI suggested that communities of slum areas in Jakarta should initiate workshops on sex education by requesting NGOs such as the YPI to visit their areas.

“It needs comprehensive participation from society because many NGOs don’t have the resources to map all the slum areas in the city whose young residents need sex education,” Srisulistyurini said.

According to the health agency, 3,863 AIDS cases were reported in 2009, with women and young people being the most prone to infection. (tsy)

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Antara News, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 19:59 WIB

Tampak Siring, Bali (ANTARA News) - Minister of National Development Planning/Head the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Armida S Alisjahbana said the seven targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are hopefully satisfied by 2015.

"According to several indicators, nationally most of the MDGs have already been met. The government has also received appreciation from the United Nations for what it has achieved so far, and for its commitment to meet all the MDG targets by the end of 2015," she told a press conference at the Tampak Siring Presidential Palace in Bali Tuesday.

She also said that the seven targets are the eradication of poverty and hunger, basic education for everyone, promoting gender equality, empowerment of women, reducing infant mortality, promoting mothers` health, control of HIV and AIDS, malaria and other contagious diseases, and securing the environment.

She also said that right now efforts at meeting the targets were already on track, although some still off track.

"The three still off-track are indicators on the death rate of delivering mothers reaching 100,000 life births, prevention of HIV/AIDS and increase in forest land covering," he said.

For these purposes, he added, the government will increase its focus on disparities in the overall reducing the targets, with the support of all the stakeholders including the government, businesspeopel, the general public and religious leaders.

Armida also wished to reduce the discrepancy between the different regions in reaching the targets, by giving attention to the regions whose performance is still below national average.

"The regions are playing a very important role, and later based on the results of the working meeting solutions will be sought on the basis of the condition of the individual regions to speed up meeting the MDGs, and the more systematic commitments of the regions," he said.

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post | Wed, 03/31/2010 9:11 PM

Curbing gender disparity and increasing awareness among Indonesian women of their reproductive rights could help save them from HIV and AIDS, Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said Wednesday.

"We are aware that the number of women with HIV is increasing. Women in committed relationships are vulnerable to contracting HIV if their partners also have it," Linda said in Jakarta during the launching of the Report of HIV Transmission of Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia.

The report, published by UNAIDS, revealed that in 2006 there was a substantial increase in the number of women over 15 years old living with HIV in Indonesia as compared to the figure in 2002.

Indonesian women are among 50 million people in Asia at risk of being infected with HIV from long-term sexual partners.

"Currently it is necessary to increase programs targeting at strengthening women's reproductive rights and the bargaining power so that they can refuse high-risk sex," Linda said.

Irwanto, a professor from the Atmajaya University, said that it was only recently that the threat of long-term intimate relationships as possible HIV infection sources was realized.

He said a few years ago the focus had been on IDU (injection drug users). It was only recently realized that drug users were recognized to have girlfriends, wives and families, who are at high risk of contracting the disease.

Nafsiah Mboi,secretary for the National AIDS Commission, said that despite the successful campaigns on IDUs and drug use in relations the HIV, the efforts to prevent sexual transmission of HIV in the country had been much less successful.

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, March 30, 2010

The government has surrendered all hope of attaining three of the most crucial Millennium Development Goals on schedule, offering the usual excuses of budget constraints and a lack of public participation.

Nina Sardjunani, deputy head of human resources and cultural affairs at the National Development Board (Bappenas), told delegates to a national conference on Tuesday that reducing the maternal mortality ratio, combating HIV/AIDS and reducing the proportion of the population without access to clean drinking water would be impossible to achieve by 2015.

The MDGs set out eight universal goals for 2015. They were drawn from the targets outlined in the Millennium Declaration, which was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.

Nina said Indonesia had been “left behind” in three key areas, with continued HIV/AIDS prevalence among the younger generation, a low rate of condom use and only a small proportion of the population possessing a comprehensive knowledge of the disease. She was speaking during the national coordination meeting on health, population and family planning organized by the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare at Grand Sahid Jaya hotel in Jakarta.

One goal — combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases — stated that the objective was to have halted and reversed the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly among those aged 15-24 years, by 2015.

Nina said that encouragingly, Indonesia was on track to curb malaria and had already succeeded in curbing the spread of tuberculosis, thanks to improved access to basic sanitation facilities.

Sugiri Syarief, head of the renamed National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), said family planning programs, though not specifically mentioned in the MDGs, could boost the success of the programs, including condom use.

“Effective family planning programs can help cut poverty and improve the quality of human resources, economic development and health,” he said.

He said it was concerning that in the 10 years since the downfall of the New Order regime, family planning programs had been neglected by the central government, which had failed to provide the necessary funding amid reluctance or ignorance of local governments and organizations.

“There is also a misleading stigma in the public,” he explained. “Every time we promote condom use, for example, some groups think that we are promoting promiscuity.”

Sugiri said that several years ago, for example, the BKKBN provided a number of condom vending machines at targeted locations throughout the country, but the move was strongly condemned by some groups and all the of machines were destroyed.

“There are also other stigmas, such as that wearing a condom reduces the satisfaction level, and that men carrying condoms means that he’s adulterous, among many other things,” he said.

According to the results of the five-yearly Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey last undertaken in 2007, the incidence of condom use compared to 2002 had increased from 60.3 percent to 61.4 percent. Nina maternal health targets were also destined for failure. According to the survey, the number of women dying during childbirth per year stood at 228 per 100,000, while the target was 102, though this was an improvement over the 307 deaths per 100,000 births recorded in 2002.

BanLec found in bananas is as potent as existing anti-HIV drugs

Bananas may hold the key to powerful new treatments that protect against the Aids virus.

In laboratory tests, scientists found that a banana ingredient called BanLec was as potent as two existing anti-HIV drugs.

They believe cheap therapies based on BanLec have the potential to save millions of lives.

The ingredient is a lectin, a naturally occurring chemical in plants that fights infection.

Researchers in the U.S. found that the lectin found in bananas can inhibit HIV infection by blocking the virus's entry into the body. BanLec acts on the protein 'envelope' that encloses HIV's genetic material.

Lead author Michael Swanson, from the University of Michigan, said: 'The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that's much harder to do in the presence of lectins.

'Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them.'

The research is reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

BanLec was as effective in the laboratory as two anti-HIV drugs now in use, T-20 and maraviroc, the scientists found.

Mr Swanson is developing a process to alter BanLec and make it suitable for human patients.

The researchers believe it could be used alone or in conjunction with other anti-HIV drugs.

Even modest success could potentially save millions of lives around the world, they claim.

Currently new HIV infections are outstripping the rate at which new patients receive anti-HIV drugs by 2.5 to one, say the authors.

Professor David Marvovits, from the University of Michigan Medical School, said: 'HIV is still rampant in the US and the explosion in poorer countries continues to be a bad problem because of tremendous human suffering and the cost of treating it.'