Yenni Kwok, Bekasi – It is a brave motorist who ventures on to Pantura, the highway that runs for 1,000 hair-raising kilometers along Java's north coast. Trucks and buses are given to bullying anything smaller out of the way as they weave from lane to lane at breakneck speeds. But, for the truck drivers, the real danger starts when they step down from their cabs for food and rest – and for cheap sex with local prostitutes.
The drivers sneer at condoms. They complain they blunt their sexual pleasure and are not macho. Some have not even heard of them. Typical of the prostitutes' clients is 26-year-old Iwan. He says: "I only get home once a week. Often I am eager for sex, but my wife doesn't want to sleep with me. So I go with these women. I don't use condoms." Last year, he contracted syphilis. It could have been a lot worse.
Health workers believe the Pantura highway could be ground-zero for an AIDS explosion in Indonesia. Says Baby Jim Aditya, an AIDS activist: "With their high-risk behavior, the truckers could be conduits for sexually transmitted diseases, and AIDS in particular, spreading infection to other regions of Indonesia and to their own families."
The Indonesian government estimates that between 40,000 and 50,000 people are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or have fully blown AIDS. Other sources put the number at up to 120,000. Records are not comprehensive enough to establish whether truck drivers are among them, but it seems certain they are. Aditya and other health activists judged the situation so serious they decided on direct intervention. The result: Pantura Free AIDS Action, a project aimed at raising drivers' awareness of the risks they take.
Volunteers targeted the Rawa Pasung truck terminal, east of Jakarta, where drivers stop to rest for a few days before hitting the road again. Getting the truckers to respond was not easy at first. Though surveys and statistics show the majority of them use prostitutes, very few are open enough to admit their habits to strangers. "Their level of denial is high," says Dr. Cecilia Boediono, the project medical advisor. It took Aditya several visits before she finally won their confidence.
Pantura Free AIDS Action wound up its initial campaign last June, but Aditya still calls by once a week to distribute leaflets and chat with truckers about sex, diseases and condoms. The overwhelming impression, she reports, is that very few of the tens of thousands of drivers on the Pantura run have any understanding of the dangers of unprotected sex. "Every time I hear how little they know, I just want to hug them," she says.
Long-distance truck driving is strong on male bonding. Sexual activity is a matter of pride and is seen as a sign of strength. Contracting a disease is an admission of weakness. Says Sariadi, a driver's assistant: "If someone does catch something, he usually won't mention it to his friends. It would make him a laughing stock." The consequence is that many truckers seek medical attention only after the discomfort becomes too much – and after the infection has been passed to another prostitute, who, in turn, infects dozens of other victims.
Despite the efforts of Pantura Free AIDS Action, folklore still has a firm hold when it comes to sexual diseases. Hari, a 33-year-old driver, explains why he contracted gonorrhea: "I wasn't in prime condition when I had sex. I was tired. That's what did it." Some drivers believe they can cure infections by drinking soapy water. Others take antibiotics just before or after sexual intercourse.
To spread their AIDS message along the Pantura highway, volunteers persuaded drivers to turn their trucks into mobile billboards. About 300 abandoned the usual paintings of scantily clad women and were adorned instead with messages such as "Resist Temptation, Anti-AIDS," "Bring Home Money, Not Disease," "My Love Is for My Wife Only." Abstinence and faithfulness are advocated; condom use is not. The co-sponsor of the AIDS campaign is the National Family Planning Coordinating Board, which worries that promoting condoms would be seen as endorsing a promiscuous lifestyle.
But with hundreds of prostitutes working the terminals and many of the food stalls along Pantura, cheap sex (usually for less than $10) will always be a temptation. That's why the AIDS workers hand out condoms to those drivers who will take them. But many people worry that it may all be too late. The AIDS time bomb could already be primed.