Sonya De Masi – Indonesia has a growing drug problem. Some research suggests there are up to a million intravenous drug users and the numbers are increasing daily. Now under a bilateral agreement between the Australian and Indonesian governments, a training program is underway towards the development of a national action plan.
Speakers: Dr Bimanesh Sutarjo, Indonesia's National Narcotics Board member; Enny Nuriyani, Indonesia's Department of Social Affairs; Dr Windhu Burnomo, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya; Dr Diah Setia Utami, psychiatrist, National Hospital for Drug Addiction, Jakarta.
De Masi: Independent research suggests Indonesia could have up to one million intravenous drug users. Dr Bimanesh Sutarjo is a member of Indonesia's National Narcotics Board. He acknowledges the historical connection between the authorities and drug trafficking has made it difficult to introduce a strong national policy. But he says things have been changing in Indonesia.
Sutarjo: "It is changing, we cannot be certain, I guess it's a matter of sensitive matter to implicate that the army and police are involved in trafficking. But nowadays the law is very strict. That issue was brought up in late 90's perhaps but now there is very strict law with very hard punishment for those involved in narcotics, especially army and police personnel."
De Masi: After a restructure in 2002, the National Narcotics Board now oversees all elements of drug policy from surveillance and law enforcement to education. But while the authorities are no longer denying the existence of drug use in Indonesia, the pace of change has been slow. Enny Nuriyani works for Indonesia's Department of Social Affairs in Jakarta.
Nuriyani: "In my mind, law enforcement is the first way to prevent ... the best way so the community will understand the impact of using drugs. We also work with the community, with NGO's in our country about the prevention about rehabilitation and so on."
De Masi: She says community opposition remains strong, and many parents are reluctant to acknowledge their children might have drug problem. Dr Windhu Burnomo is from the Faculty of Public Health at the Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya.
Burnomo: "There is a perception that drug use is a sin, not that this is the problem in my community. For example, harm minimisation is the most important to prevent the spread of HIV because of IDU, injecting drug use, but until now, harm minimisation is still controversial in Indonesia."
De Masi: Regardless of the approach, without a coherent system of data collection, Indonesia's policy-makers say they are working in a vacuum.
Sutarjo: "We have a lack of data which always makes it difficult for government institutions to make policies concerning drug prevention and so on. How many people are detained in drug rehabilitation, how many drug rehabilitation centres are there in Indonesia in various provinces, and what are their capabilties? How big is the drug problem? We always say there is a growing problem, big problem but the data, we don't have it."
De Masi: Narcotics Board member Dr Bimanesh Sutarjo is a mentor of a training program designed to develop a standardised system of data collection to evaluate the extent of Indonesia's drug problem.
With funding from AusAID, under the Indonesia Australia Specialist Training Project, eighteen Indonesian professionals are training with experts from Melbourne's Victoria University and Burnet Institute. They include academics, representatives of the military and police, health professionals and officials from the education, health and social affairs departments. Dr Diah Setia Utami is a psychiatrist from the National Hospital for Drug Addiction in Jakarta.
Utami: "In Indonesia, drug abuse has increased sharply since 1997, when our country had problems, especially political and economic problems, so at the moment the main problem is about harm impact related to drugs ... like HIV AIDS, Hepatitis C or B, sexually transmitted infections, they are the main problems."
De Masi: The participants in the Melbourne program appear enthusiastic about the skills and methods they will take back to their respective workplaces. Dr Diah Setia Utami hopes it won't be long before they can convince Indonesia's policy-makers.
Utami: "It is very difficult, especially to make aware politicians and decision-makers like the Ministry of Health and other related departments. For example, for our pilot project of methadone treatment, we needed more than two years to make decision-makers sure it is an important program and it could be a solution to handle drug-users. Decision-makers are beginning to open their minds that this should be implemented in Indonesia."