To me it is rather ironic if the whole country must bear this burden caused by a small number of irresponsible individuals. The government and the wider public have always been told to pay better attention to people with HIV/AIDS, to stop treating them discriminatingly and so on; while most of these people themselves have been so selfish, continually and recklessly engaging in high-risk activities and subsequently transmitting the disease to their innocent partners and then children.
I'm not trying to discriminate nor preserve prejudices against people with HIV/AIDS, especially because not all of them earned the disease from high-risk activities like sharing needles when using drugs, male-with-male sex or frequent visits to prostitutes.
What I'm trying to say is, everybody please be a little more responsible! Your irresponsible behavior may affect not only you, but also your innocent, probably-beloved, closest people.
BEN Z.
Jakarta
Only if the awareness comes, that it can happen to anyone who has unprotected sex or a blood transfusion, will it become "fashionable" for politicians or celebrities to fight for those who are affected.
Actions like the microchips in Papua will only worsen the problem and will lead to a dying generation in Indonesia. By the way, the number 270,000 infected is a joke. The accessibility to tests is too low, the fear of those who are infected is too big and the awareness is too little.
ANDREAS
Manado, North Sulawesi
People living with HIV regardless of their race, social class or religious beliefs should be treated equally and deserve the best medication. Pharmaceutical companies' profiteers are not doing enough to provide affordable and free medical assistance worldwide.
The government's attitude in Indonesia should change to alleviate the number of cases each year. There should be public information through TV ads, bus ads and local publishing materials regarding safe sex practices and the promotion of human compassion and dignity for people with HIV.
No one is immune to HIV by adopting unsafe sex, a denialist attitude and sharing needles through drug-related practices. Everyone should be responsible for their own actions and protect others from unsafe practices.
Some local and international religious groups have shouted that people who have fallen to HIV are condemned by God for their deviant actions. Religious groups who may think that they can judge people by ignoring them and creating segregation among those living with and those not living with HIV are just cowards, ignorant and just pure evil.
EDI K.
Jakarta
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