Irianese Women Targeted in HIV/AIDS Campaign

Irian Jaya has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.

"The curve of HIV spread follows that of Papua New Guinea or the African curve; it has reached an alarming level," said Dr. Paul Crouch-Chivers, who works for the mining company PT Freeport Indonesia. Part of the speed of transmission can be attributed to the Irianese way of life. Doctors, health officials and nongovernmental organization workers say the male members of many local communities practice sexual activities such as exchanging wives, passing on widows to younger brothers and acquiring new partners. Also, sex without foreplay -which can injure the genitals -is a common practice. Heterosexual intercourse is the main means by which HIV is spread in the region.

As of June 2001, official figures from Irian Jaya showed 599 people had contracted HIV, 224 of whom developed full-blown AIDS. The number of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia has reached 1,956 overall, meaning Irian Jaya's figures make up almost 30 percent of cases in Indonesia. Crouch-Chivers said while the HIV epidemic in mining communities in Timika was in the early stages, "the annual incidence rate would continue to increase unless there were significant changes in sexual behavior by using condoms or limiting the number of partners."

Officials, doctors and activists said special attention needs to be directed at mothers. "I am sure we will start to see infected new-born babies in the future," Crouch-Chivers said. Surveys by an Irian Jaya health agency show that sexual harassment and ill treatment of wives is rampant among the local population in villages and towns. "Some women still have sexual intercourse with their husbands although they know that their husbands are infected," said Dr. Gunawan Ingkokusumo, a senior member of staff of a health agency in Jayapura. He said the HIV/AIDS problem in Irian Jaya was similar to a fire ignited in a dry forest. "If we are not alert to the fire, it will spread and scorch a big part of the human resources needed to build this province," Ingkokusumo said. ( Jakarta Post)