HIV/AIDS in Indonesia: Exists below the Surface
HIV/AIDS is nothing new in Indonesia. The HIV/AIDS pandemic took place in the United States, gave birth to a judgemental perspective for the gay communities, and eventually the news landed in Indonesia. Even in Indonesia, the judgment still persists since its first reported case in 1987.
In February 2019, several toddlers who wanted to study at a local elementary school were rejected for being an HIV+.
This rejectment shows three problems lying in our country: 1) the failure of healthcare in preventing the transmission from mother to children; 2) the failure of our education system to explain that HIV/AIDS is not transmittable outside it pathological route and these children would not infect any other child at their school; and 3) the stigma still prevails.
From a single case alone, we may observe that HIV/AIDS problems may be much more complex than what the media told us. It shows the failure, the lack of comprehensive and accessible healthcare, and the underdeveloped education system in creating a judgment-free society and learning institution.
Underreporting: Same Old Story
One of the main problems in combating HIV/AIDS in Indonesia is the system itself. No one can guarantee that every report the government shows to the media is 100% valid and reliable–uncertainties exist, especially in Indonesia where the healthcare system has not even reached its peak.
Take a look at this SIHA report in the first three months of 2021 where the number of new HIV cases found among infants were seven cases. Now, tell me. Do you believe it or you don’t? The thing is that, it indeed is hard to fathom the fact that the number was so unbelievably low, considering the growing population of Indonesia and the lack of HIV/AIDS knowledge Indonesian possessed. If the data was indeed correct, then maybe it was our subliminal thought that pushes out the skepticism regarding almost everything coming out from the government.
However, our skepticism is at the very least justified, though. The government has always been known to manipulate the data to favor themselves and create a good public image. When the COVID-19 struck throughout the country, the general public was baffled to see how huge the disparity of cases reported on national and local level, which led to a massive public distrust towards the government.
The pattern of those underreporting and misreporting cases which rots in our system is clearly something that the government could actually handle on their own hand as they hold so much power, yet this same old story is a repetitive narrative every pandemic–or even every year.
Stigma: Where It All Begins
Perhaps one of the long-lasting enemies in alleviating the HIV/AIDS problem throughout the country is the stigma itself. Interestingly, the 1999 article about HIV/AIDS stigma is, I think, still relevant to this date. In 1999, Pyor wrote that there are three associative qualities of stigma. While this article will not dive deep into all these details, there are several interesting findings worth to note as it still shows relevancy in 2023.
Pyor wrote that stigma is attributed to a social contamination resulting from arbitrary associations. Can’t grasp the concept? Picture the concept this way, if a certain community is predominating and makes up the majority of a disease, then the disease is associated with that certain community as well. For example, homosexuals and HIV/AIDS. This could trigger the previous belief of another community who holds a judgment to the attributable disease. Let’s say that a young population shows an antithesis of supporting behavior towards homosexuality and when this population finds a certain community who is living with HIV/AIDS, this young population will eventually reject them due to their previous presumption, even the afore-mentioned community caught HIV/AIDS from another transmission route, for example, through contaminated blood product.
While the study Pyor was referring to when writing this article was published 1993, the social association is seemingly lasting forever. One may, out of their curiosity, look up about LGBT and HIV/AIDS on the internet, and countless judgmental articles welcome them unsurprisingly. The stigmatized disease will eventually cause the HIV/AIDS progress to collapse. People are maybe afraid to test themselves out and People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) may be uncomfortable in taking medicine and such.
An immediate action needs to be executed properly to eradicate the stigma themselves. Numerous articles were written by the government to educate the public, but the progress is all thanks to all the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who do the job.
Knowledge: Maybe Our Curriculum Doesn’t Accommodate It All
People out there may live out there without knowing what HIV/AIDS is. According to the Demographic and Health Survey 2017, the number of women and men who have ever heard about HIV/AIDS is 88% and 83,4%, respectively, leaving out nearly a quarter of the population with little-to-none knowledge. Don’t be surprised to find out that not even 20% of women and men in each 5-years-group age possess a comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS.
The unknown belief of mosquitoes as a vector of HIV/AIDS, the need-to-be-corrected thought of HIV/AIDS can be transmitted by sharing food with PLWHA, and such misconceptions still survive in this digital era. This raises a question, how well our education system performs? Could this be a result of forbidding sex education to our child and let them discover any sex-related topics in an inaccurate way?
We just have to admit that this country fails the sex education; thus rejection of PLWHA exists till this day. Even e-sport sits at the top of this country’s priority as the government delegates the school to include e-sport as one of the teaching subjects; they don’t even bother with sex education.
While HIV/AIDS exists in Indonesia, the issue receives little-to-no support from both the government as the main power and the society where PLWHA lives. There is no debate that the government needs to embrace NGOs working in HIV/AIDS prevention and such and stop exacerbating the problem when the problem has hit the rock bottom itself. Evidence-based to improve the general public’s knowledge and reduce the stigma is something important, as well as fixing the system to create a more credible reporting system. Let’s embrace together to end HIV/AIDS by 2030, shall we?
