Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – More than half of the teenagers in Jakarta have had pre-marital sexual intercourse, according to a National Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) survey.
"Out of 100 teenagers, 51 of them are no longer virgins," BKKBN head Sugiri Syarif said at an AIDS awareness campaign in Jakarta on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
The numbers in Jakarta were lower than those reported in other cities, such as Surabaya (54 percent), Medan (52 percent) and Bandung (47 percent). Teenagers accounted for 800,000 of the 2.4 million abortions conducted in Indonesia every year, according to the survey.
Another survey in Yogyakarta said that 37 percent of 1,160 university students polled reported pre-marital pregnancies.
Sugiri added that more than 78 percent of Indonesia's estimated 3.2 million drug users were teenagers, and this had contributed to the nation's growing number of HIV/AIDS cases.
The Health Ministry reported 21,770 cases of AIDS and 41,157 HIV infections in Indonesia as of June, while 48 percent of those with HIV were from 20-29 years old and 30.9 percent were from 30-39 years old.
Ministry data also shows that 49.3 percent of AIDS infections here resulted from heterosexual intercourse, injections accounted for 40.4 percent and homosexual intercourse for 3.3 percent.
Sugiri said his agency would step up counseling to reduce the number of abortions and the incidence of HIV/AIDS among teens.
The National Commission on HIV/AIDS Prevention (KPAN) has said it was optimistic it would achieve its target to increase condom use and raise teen awareness of the disease.
KPAN has established HIV/AIDS clinics for voluntary counseling and testing (VST) and also for care, support and treatment (CST).
There are 789 VCT and 259 CST clinics in Indonesia today, up from 25 VCT and 25 CST clinics in 2004. KPAN plans to increase those numbers to 872 VCT and 296 CST clinics by 2014.
KPAN has given HIV/AIDS antiretroviral drugs to 16,982 people with HIV/AIDS and pledged to provide more doses by 2015.
One Jakarta teenager who asked to be named only as Felisia said that the BKKBN's report had no effect on her views of sexuality or virginity.
"It's a fact of life. I decide what to do with my virginity, not society," said Felisia, who lost her virginity at the age of 19 in Yogyakarta.