Healthcare providers’ ignorance is main obstacle in access to health services for PLHIVs: Report

Surabaya, 7 February 2007 – One of the main obstacles in gaining access to health care services for people living with AIDS was the healthcare service providers’ lack of understanding, awareness, and knowledge of HIV and AIDS, a report from a participatory research disclosed Thursday.

“Healthcare services in Indonesia is in general chaotic, but when coupled with the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV, this condition becomes unacceptable,” Rico Gustav, UNAIDS Indonesia’s Civil Society Liaison Assistant, said.

A focus group discussion in Bandung, West Java, for example, disclosed a participant who was ignored by healthcare providers at a clinic when he went to be treated for tuberculosis.

“When they found out I was from a certain institution, they asked me about my (sero)status, and about PLHIVs. When the last nurse came, she told me (the clinic) was about to close”.

Rico, however, said that the main problem to health service access for PLHIVs was derived mainly from the ignorance of healthcare providers about HIV and AIDS.

“Mostly it’s only because they don’t understand, they don’t know, and there’s no incentive for them to want to understand more,” he said, explaining that since HIV medication is still outside the usual medical reports mechanism, nurses had to work extra to create paperwork for AIDS patients, at no extra pay.

The report, titled “People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Health Service Access”, also highlights the need for better access to services regarding treatment, care, and support for HIV/AIDS.

“Universal Access here mostly translates to availability of antiretroviral medication. Availability is of course good, but for most people it is the simple problem of transportation that becomes the main obstacle to getting medication,” UNAIDS Indonesia’s Partnership and Network Assistant, Samuel Nugraha, said.

A focus group discussion at Tasik+ peer support group disclosed this statement:

“I had to go to Bandung and Jakarta back and forth to get medicine. It costs me a lot of money. I hope I’d be able to get medication in Tasik”.

And from the Sukabumi Positif Community peer support group:

“When I wanted to take an HIV test in Sukabumi, I was referred to Bandung. But when I came back to the doctor in Sukabumi with the result he couldn’t figure out whether I was positive or negative. I had to take the test again in Jakarta, and even then the doctor wasn’t sure”.

Some 12 people living with HIV (PLHIV) and 11 non-governmental organization researchers contributed to the collection of relevant data for the research, as part of lessons learned towards the greater involvement of people living with HIV and affected by AIDS (GIPA), while Irwanto, Ph.D. and Laurike Moeliono, MA provided consultation and development of the final research draft.

The research was facilitated by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and was conducted with the full support of the National AIDS Commission.

It includes interviews with other PLHIVs on how they access healthcare services, interviews with health service providers, surveys on healthcare facilities in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and.East Java, as well as focus group discussions.

Conducted between December 2005 and July 2006, the research interviewed some 270 respondents from five provinces – Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java – with the composition of 64% male (172 people), 29% female (77 people), and 8% transgenders (21 people). Average age of male respondents is 28 years old, female respondents is 31 years old, and 25 years old for transgender respondents.

“The success of this research is largely thanks to the direct participation of people living with HIV themselves,” UNAIDS Country Coordinator for Indonesia, Jane Wilson, PhD., said during the launch of the report at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta on Thursday.

“Their participation is critical to ethical and effective national responses to the epidemic,” she said.

National AIDS Commission Secretary, Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, SpA., MPH, said that the report was a great contribution to the efforts to improve healthcare services for people living with HIV.

“This participative research serves as a great reference to how to push for greater involvement of people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS,” she said.

The report “People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Health Service Access” was first launched on Thursday, 12 October 2006, at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Jakarta. It is used in a workshop during the 3rd National AIDS Meeting in Surabaya, East Java, on 7 February, 2007.

For more information:
Samuel Nugraha | Partnership & Network Assistant, UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | snugraha.unaids@un.or.id

Rico Gustav | Civil Society Liaison Assistant, UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | rgustav.unaids@un.or.id

Elis Widen | Senior Leadership Advocacy & Communications, UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 812 1970 449 | elis.unaids@undp.org

Tantri Yuliandini | Communications Associate, UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 818 826 874 | yuliandiniT@unaids.org

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to the global AIDS response. Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Based in Geneva, the UNAIDS secretariat works on the ground in more than 75 countries world wide.

Suzanna Murni’s biography launched at 3rd National AIDS Meeting

Surabaya, 5 February 2007 – We are part of the solution. The conviction reverberated around the hall like a mantra, urging people out of their slumber, carrying my feet up to the podium, to speak out, and for the first time, to do what I set out for when I joined the AIDS response – Suzanna Murni, Dua Sisi dari Satu Sosok.

She is touted as Indonesia’s pioneering positive woman AIDS activist. Her Spiritia Foundation is praised as one of the few that continually strive to empower people living with HIV (PLHIV) through the strengthening of a network of peer support groups and capacity building.

But most of today’s new generation of AIDS activists only know Suzanna Murni by name and reputation, only a few have met her in person, let alone get close enough to befriend her. Many wonder who Suzanna Murni was, and what made her actions so remarkable?

Noted author and AIDS activist Putu Oka Sukanta addresses these questions through his book “Suzanna Murni: Lilin Membakar Dirinya” (Suzanna Murni: The Candle Burns Itself), a collection of impressions from people who knew Suzanna and understood her work both in Indonesia and abroad.

Since 1995 – the year Suzanna was diagnosed with HIV – many people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Indonesia have joined the ranks of HIV activists and actively fight against stigma and discrimination. And yet, according to Lilin, no one has yet replaced Suzanna in the response.

“We’d found the right figure to act as counselor, negotiator, for people or sides with opposite points of view … She can make a connection between them. She can work both at the elite level and at the level of people living with HIV,” dr. Tuti Parwati, an AIDS activist who in 1995 brought Suzanna to the International Congress on AIDS in the Asia Pacific (ICAAP) to represent Indonesian PLHIVs, said in the book.

These impressions and many others form the main plot of Lilin. “Suzanna’s figure is built and kept alive by perceptions, understanding, impressions, guesswork, admiration, sense of loss from people who have known her,” Putu Oka said in the book’s foreword.

“This book shows how great the impact of the participation of people living with HIV in the AIDS response is, in whatever form; whether as a speaker at an advocacy opportunity, as an empowered patient, or as an individual with personal knowledge,” Siradj Okta from Spiritia Foundation said.

“We hope this book will spark stronger activism from various groups and institutions to focus more on issues of HIV and AIDS,” he said.

Suzanna Murni: Lilin Membakar Dirinya is a publication made with a grant from the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum (APLF) and support from the United Nations Joint Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“We were privileged to have been involved in the publication of this book about a very extraordinary person who had always kept her eyes focused on the needs of Indonesians living with HIV,” UNAIDS Country Coordinator Jane Wilson, PhD. said.

She said that the APLF exists to promote leadership in the region, and that Lilin is one of the most extraordinary projects ever funded by the Leadership Forum.

“The book is about a very real person, and the way she lived her life encourages us all to do better,” Ms. Wilson said.

Suzanna Murni: Lilin Membakar Dirinya will be officially launched during the opening of the 3rd National AIDS Meeting in Surabaya, East Java, and distributed freely through the United Nations booth in an exhibition at the meeting.

For more information:
Elis Widen | UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 812 1970 449 | elis.unaids@undp.org

Tantri Yuliandini | UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 818 826 874 | yuliandiniT@unaids.org

Siradj Okta | Yayasan Spiritia | tel. +62 21 422 5168 | +62 817 818 107 |Siradj@spiritia.or.id

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to the global AIDS response. Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Based in Geneva, the UNAIDS secretariat works on the ground in more than 75 countries world wide.

United Nations joint team supports the 3rd National HIV and AIDS Meeting

Jakarta, 5 February 2007 – The United Nations Joint Team for AIDS fully supports the 3rd National AIDS Meeting on Feb. 4 – 8, 2007, in Surabaya, East Java, recognizing it as a landmark event for the Indonesian AIDS response.

The United Nations has supported the AIDS response in Indonesia since 1996, with the Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS 2003-2007 to support the Indonesian National AIDS Commission and local AIDS commissions.

“The UN is serious in its commitment to support the AIDS response. All agencies work together as part of the UN Joint AIDS Programme 2003-2007,” UNAIDS Country Coordinator Jane Wilson said.

UN sponsored activities in Indonesia include treatment of children and orphans, life skills education among young people and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (UNICEF), young people, use of condoms and education of sex workers (UNFPA), treatment and care of injecting drug use and prison population (UN Office on Drugs and Crime), the refugee population (UNHCR).

Other UN agencies focus their programmes to support prevention, treatment and policy research. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is working for HIV and AIDS in the world of work, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invests on the development of education and advocacy materials, the World Health Organization (WHO) works on Public Health and medical aspects of HIV/AIDS, the World Food Programme (WFP) targets interventions on food and nutrition, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides capacity building to the government including issues of governance and human rights and the World Bank invests on analytic work and studies.

More information on the joint UN programme can be found in the United Nations Indonesia web page http://www.un.or.id.

The 3rd National AIDS Meeting will bring together all stakeholders working on HIV and AIDS in Indonesia, including the Indonesian government, legislators, medical practitioners, academics, non-governmental organizations, as well as the civil society.

Indonesian Ministry of Health data has recorded a total of 5,230 HIV cases and 8,194 AIDS cases reported since 1987, but official estimates put down the number of Indonesian living with HIV and AIDS to between 169,000 to 216,000.

Commitments have been made by the government, whether at the United Nations level or regional level through the Association of South East Asian Nation, and actions implemented to halt the spread of the epidemic.

In 2006, however, 986 new HIV infections and 2,873 AIDS cases were reported, meaning there is still a long way to go to achieve Millennium Development Goal 6 – to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

This year’s theme for the 3rd National AIDS Meeting is ‘uniting efforts to scale up response’ is all the more relevant.

”Planning this AIDS meeting has brought all stakeholders together and will renew our vision and commitment to work together,” Ms. Wilson said.

Some 1,500 people are expected to attend the four-day Meeting, scheduled to be opened by Indonesian First Lady Kristiani Herawati Yudhoyono, as well as the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare and Chairman of the National AIDS Commission Aburizal Bakrie. The 3rd National AIDS Meeting will be closed by Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari.

For more information:
Elis Widen | UNAIDS | +62 21 314 1885 | +62 812 1970 449 | elis.unaids@undp.org
Galuh Wulan | ILO | +62 21 3913112 | galuh@ilojkt.or.id
Kindy Marina | UNFPA | +62 21 3907121 | marina@unfpa.org
Vera Hakim | UNDP | +62 21 3141308 | vera.hakim@undp.org
Gelora Manurung | UNICEF | +62 21 5705816 | gmanurung@unicef.org
Mira Fajar | UNESCO | +62 21 72796489 | m.fajar@unesco.org
Keiko Izushi | WFP | +62 21 5709004 | keiko.izushi@wfp.org
Edna Oppenheimer | UNODC | +62 21 3141885 | ednaoppenheimer@yahoo.co.uk
Sabine Flessenkaemper | WHO | +62 21 5204349 | FlessenkaemperS@who.or.id

3rd National HIV and AIDS Meeting an excellent opportunity to harmonize efforts for an accelerated AIDS response

Jakarta, 4 February 2007 – The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is fully supporting the 3rd National AIDS Meeting in Surabaya, East Java, as one of the most important events in the calendar this year.

“UNAIDS has high hopes that the 3rd National AIDS Meeting in Indonesia will be a strategic opportunity for everybody to sit together and harmonize all efforts towards an accelerated AIDS response in Indonesia,” Director of UNAIDS’ Regional Support Team in Asia and Pacific, Mr. Prasada Rao, said.

He said that even with the concentrated level of epidemic, Indonesia still has a window of opportunity to control the AIDS epidemic as long as all stakeholders strive to streamline their programs to the priority needs of the country.

“We know that resources are available, but we must seek to avoid needless program duplications and repetitions, and try to focus on priority interventions which produce an impact,” Mr. Rao said.

The National AIDS Meeting, held at the Shangri-La Hotel on Feb. 4 – 8, 2007, will bring together all stakeholders, such as the government, legislators, medical practitioners, national and regional AIDS commissions, as well as civil society, people living with HIV, women, men who have sex with men, and transgenders.

“This will be an extraordinary opportunity for various groups to review Indonesia’s AIDS response, so that the theme ‘uniting efforts to scale-up response to AIDS’ could be realized,” UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Jane Wilson, PhD., said.

The 10 UNAIDS Co-Sponsors are supporting several thematic activities within the National AIDS Meeting, including sponsoring for the participation of AIDS activists, women’s group, young people, and people living with HIV.

They will also participate with a joint booth at an exhibition, showcasing the latest publications from each UN agency according to their respective mandates.

In particular UNAIDS is supporting the launch of  “Suzana Murni: Lilin Membakar Dirinya” (Suzana Murni: The Candle Burns Itself) by Spiritia Foundation at the Meeting. This is a biography of Suzana Murni, Indonesia’s pioneering positive woman activist and founder of the Spiritia Foundation, written by noted author Putu Oka Sukanta, with a grant from the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum (APLF).

UNAIDS is also supporting a focus group discussion on the first generation response to AIDS, aiming to provide a forum for the civil society working for HIV and AIDS to review the past 20 years of the Indonesian AIDS response.

Integral with the 3rd National AIDS Meeting, UNAIDS will be supporting a workshop to discuss the results of a participatory research “People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Health Service Access”, and the lessons learned towards Greater Involvement of People Living with AIDS (GIPA).

The workshop will be held on Feb. 7, with UNAIDS Indonesia’s Civil Society Liaison Assistant Rico Gustav and Ardhany Soeryadarma from the civil society speaking, and moderated by UNAIDS Indonesia’s Partnership & Network Assistant, Samuel Nugraha.

UNAIDS is also supporting the 1st Indonesian Positive Women Alliance (IPPI) held on Jan. 31 – Feb. 4, as part of the National AIDS Meeting, recognizing its establishment as the first network for women living with HIV and affected by AIDS in Indonesia.

The 3rd National AIDS Meeting will be opened on Feb. 5 by the Indonesian First Lady Kristiani Herawati Yudhoyono and the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare and Chairman of the National AIDS Commission, Aburizal Bakrie. Closing the Meeting will be the Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari.

For more information:
Elis Widen | UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 812 1970 449 | elis.unaids@undp.org

Tantri Yuliandini | UNAIDS Jakarta | tel. +62 21 314 1885 | +62 818 826 874 | yuliandinit@unaids.org

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to the global AIDS response. Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Based in Geneva, the UNAIDS secretariat works on the ground in more than 75 countries world wide.

Kongres I Ikatan Perempuan Positif Indonesia mulai kerja; usung mandat pemberdayaan perempuan

Surabaya, 4 Pebruari 2007 –Ikatan Perempuan Positif Indonesia (IPPI) mengakhiri kongres pertamanya di Surabaya hari Sabtu dengan mengangkat koordinator tingkat nasional dan wilayah, menetapkan anggota dewan nasional, badan penasihat serta badan pengawas untuk periode jabatan 2007 – 2009.

“Alhamdulilah teman-teman mempercayakan kepada saya untuk menjadi Koordinator Nasional. Ini adalah tanggung jawab yang sangat berat. Kita semua yang ada di IPPI ingin membuktikan bahwa perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV juga bisa berdaya. Kita semua ingin maju dan tidak ingin terbelakang,” Santi, Koordinator Nasional IPPI yang baru mengatakan.

Dengan demikian organisasi yang sepenuhnya terdiri dari perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV dan yang terdampak oleh AIDS dari seluruh Indonesia ini secara resmi mulai berfungsi – sejak berdiri 17 Juni 2006 – dengan mengusung mandat untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup perempuan dengan HIV dan yang terdampak oleh AIDS melalui pemberdayaan dan kesetaraan dalam semua aspek kehidupan.

Dalam upacara pelantikan pejabat IPPI yang baru, Sekretaris Komisi Penangggulangan AIDS Nasional yang juga diangkat menjadi anggota Dewan Penasihat IPPI, Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, MPH., mengatakan bahwa terbentuknya jaringan nasional perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV dan yang terdampak oleh AIDS ini memiliki dua implikasi.

Satu adalah bahwa HIV merupakan penyakit yang dapat dicegah dan dikendalikan, dan yang ke dua bahwa dibalik kelembutannya perempuan dapat menjadi kekuatan yang luar biasa apabila dibekali dengan pengetahuan.

“Maka saya bangga kalian memutuskan untuk berjejaring, untuk tidak sendirian. Kalian sepakat membentuk IPPI, bersatu melawan penyakit dan bersatu melawan ketakberdayaan,” Nafsiah mengatakan.

Dalam acara yang sama, perwakilan Program Bersama Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa untuk HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) di Indonesia, Dr. Jane Wilson, mengatakan bahwa beliau merasa optimis bahwa dalam kinerjanya di masa mendatang, IPPI akan mampu memberikan kontribusi untuk mempertajam upaya penanggulangan AIDS di Indonesia, khususnya dari sudut pandang perempuan.

“Anda semua punya komitmen untuk berjalan bersama dalam jaringan yang lebih luas, untuk masa depan yang lebih baik lagi, bagi perempuan pada umumnya dan perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV secara khusus,” katanya.

Dalam pidato yang dibacakan oleh staf khusus Dra. Pinky Saptandari, MA, Menteri Negara Pemberdayaan Perempuan Prof. DR. Meutia Hatta Swasono mengatakan bahwa kongres IPPI sangat penting untuk membangun kesadaran bersama pemerintah dan masyarakat tentang permasalahan yang harus dihadapi perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV.

“IPPI dapat disebut sebagai suatu contoh organisasi yang memberdayakan perempuan, melalui dukungan terhadap mereka yang hidup dalam HIV agar dapat melakukan proses self empowerment,” katanya dalam pidato penutupan kongres.

Kongres IPPI merupakan agenda tindak lanjut dalam upaya untuk mendirikan jaringan nasional perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV dan yang terdampak oleh AIDS, yang pertama kali dicetuskan dalam lokakarya khusus perempuan di Hotel Raddin, Ancol, Jakarta, pada bulan Juli 2005.

Sebanyak 70 orang perempuan yang hidup dengan HIV dan yang terdampak oleh AIDS dari seluruh Indonesia hadir dalam Kongres I IPPI yang berlangsung sejak 31 Januari 2007 di Hotel Satelit Surabaya tersebut.

Frika Chia, yang pada Kongres terpilih sebagai anggota Badan Pengawas menjelaskan bahwa keberadaan IPPI membuktikan bahwa hidup tidak berakhir bagi mereka yang terinfeksi HIV.

“Setelah mengetahui diri kami HIV-positif, bukan berarti kami tidak bisa apa-apa, kami bersatu untuk memberdayakan diri dan menyebarkan pesan kepada perempuan-perempuan Indonesia lainnya,” katanya.

Sementara itu, salah satu yang terpilih menjadi Koordinator Nasional IPPI periode 2007-2009, Baby, mengatakan bahwa IPPI diharapkan dapat menjadi wadah perempuan – baik mereka yang hidup dengan HIV (ODHA), terdampak oleh AIDS (OHIDHA), maupun yang berisiko – untuk mendapatkan informasi lengkap dan tepat mengenai HIV dan AIDS, dan menjadi wadah bagi pengembangan diri untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup.

“Mudah-mudahan dengan IPPI, perempuan Indonesia lebih berinisiatif untuk mengakses layanan informasi yang tersedia, khususnya mengenai kesehatan seksual dan reproduksi, tanpa harus menunggu,” katanya.

Kongres I IPPI difasilitasi oleh Yayasan Spiritia dengan Kelompok Dukungan Perempuan Independen Jakarta sebagai tim pelaksana, serta didukung penuh oleh Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS Nasional (KPAN) dan Program Bersama Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa untuk HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Kongres selama tiga hari ini menghadirkan Emmy Lucy Smith dari Indonesia Against Child Trafficking (ACT) dan Nining Muktamar dari Yayasan Kakak Solo sebagai fasilitator, serta Direktur Surabaya Children Crisis Center (SCCC) Suryono sebagai pembicara.

Informasi lebih lanjut hubungi:
Santi | Koordinator Nasional IPPI | +62 980 511 67
Puji Astuti Hoesin (Tary) | Koordinator IPPI Wilayah Jawa | +62 813 155 502 08 | tary_angga@yahoo.com