Bengkulu marks World AIDS Day

Submitted by Yudi Manggala (yudimanggala) about 1 year ago

World AIDS Day began in Indonesia’s Bengkulu province with a hearing of opinion in the local parliament.

University students, drug user networks, people living with HIV and AIDS and local NGOs, participated in discussions on issues such as public uncertainty over the rules and position of the Provincial AIDS Committee.

Bengkulu is home to many people living with HIV but they are offered little access to support services and discrimination and stigma play a big role in many of their lives. The province has no CD4 testing facilities despite records confirming 339 cases of HIV.

The poor availability of subsidized antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) has also caused a great deal of concern among people living with HIV, some of whom voiced these concerns during the parliamentary discussion.

They also called for improvements to the way the Provincial AIDS Committee operates and said that if the organization could not be made more effective, it should be shut down.

In response, Bengkulu’s parliament said it was preparing a regulation that would guarantee access to health services for people with HIV and would ensure the dissemination of information on the virus to high risk groups such as students.

Source: Jothi Bengkulu (Bengkulu PLHIV Network)

Keywords: Indonesia WAD 2008 World AIDS Day

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