Imung Yuniardi and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Semarang/Bandung - A number of HIV/AIDS activists boycotted on Wednesday the commemoration of the World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 in Semarang, Central Java.
The boycott was launched on consideration that the commemoration, which was launched in 1988, consisted mainly of ceremonial programs which spent a large amount of funds that could actually be used for treatment.
"What people with HIV/AIDS needs more is affordable treatment services, continuation of the services but not ceremonial programs," she said.
Yvonne said that several activists in other countries also protested such a commemoration at a time when thousands could have access to medication.
Internationally this boycott was initiated by the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal, she said.
Head of HIV/AIDS team at Kariadi Hospital Muchlis AU. Sofro disclosed that the number of HIV carriers in Central Java reached up to 10,000 in line with rough calculations. "But the official data said there were only 3,176 people [with HIV/AIDS] as of September 2010," he said.
In Bandung, West Java, HIV/AIDS status disclosure has increasingly become a social dilemma, which is difficult to solve to curb the spread of the virus. The West Java AIDS Prevention Commission (KPAD) has registered an upward trend in the number of HIV infection cases on housewives and children under 15 years old.
Secretary of West Java KPAD Riadi said that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in West Java reached 5,536 as of June 2010. There were 148 cases of babies who were infected with HIV during the labor process from couples infected with HIV/AIDS, he said.
At least 500 senior high school students staged a rally under the theme "Stop AIDS" in front of Bandung Indah Plaza, where Bangun Mayor Dada Rosada was present.
Dozens of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia activists, mostly wearing black robes, conducted a long march from Gedung Sate to Bandung City Hall.
The activists presented their critical stance on various HIV/AIDS campaigns and urged all circles to stop propaganda on sexual promiscuity. They unfurled banners which read, among others, "HIV/AIDS the Waste of Capitalism", "Stop Free Sex", "Throw Away Gays" and "Crush Transgenders". In Kediri, East Java, the local administration is forming a bylaw which obliges commercial sex workers and their customers to use condoms.
Head of Kediri Health Office Adi Laksono said Wednesday that the bylaw would be enacted following a finding, which said that prostitution was the source of HIV/AIDS. "In the period between 1996 and 2010, the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Kediri reached 206, of whom 20 died.
However, the plan was opposed by Jauharal Nehru, head of Roudlotul Ulum Muslim boarding house, because he said it would legitimize prostitution. "We will gather masses to turn down the bylaw," he said.
[Indra Harsaputra contributes to this article from Surabaya.]