Susi Hariyani, 33, a housewife living in East Jakarta said Thursday her husband never wore condoms during sexual intercourse because of sexual displeasure.
"My husband never wears them because he thinks he won't reach orgasm during sexual intercourse," she told The Jakarta Post.
Since she got married 14 years ago, she has never tried wearing condoms for women. She admitted she was not well-informed about the possibility she might get the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from her husband, simply saying "I am not exposed to the virus".
The National AIDS Commission (KPA) estimates there are 298,000 people currently infected with HIV in Indonesia. The KPA recorded 46.2 percent of HIV infections were spread through sexual intercourse in 2008, and 54 percent in the period from January to September this year. The health ministry predicts Indonesia will have 501,400 infected with HIV by 2014 if no special action is taken to curb infection spread.
DKT Indonesia country director Todd Callahan suggested President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono take the lead in an AIDS prevention campaign through public service announcements (PSA) for television to promote condom use and safe sex.
"Television has massive impact on people in Indonesia," he told the Post in an interview Thursday. He said Yudhoyono's PSA should show the public how to wear condoms and explain the benefits of wearing them.
To address the problems of sexual displeasure, condoms now come in various flavors, like chocolate, durian and banana. "Condoms with vibration and lubricants are already on the market to increase sexual pleasure," he said.
DKT Indonesia is organizing National Condom Week in cooperation with the KPA and the Office of the Coordinating Public Welfare Minister from Nov. 30 to Dec. 7 to commemorate World AIDS Day.
He said the overall condom market dropped to 12.4 million pieces from Oct. 2008 to Aug. 2009, from 13.5 million for the same period earlier, due to a lack of PSAs.
"There should be a breakthrough. President Yudhoyono is a very strong figure in Indonesia," he said. "If he appears on TV to tell the public to wear condoms whenever they have intercourse, I am sure the public will listen." He estimated the government would need some US$5 million to ensure that everybody, even in remote areas, wore condoms to stop the spread of HIV.
KPA secretary Nafsiah Mboi said Friday she supported condom use for people at risk, and not promoting free-sex through the campaign.
She said that housewives were her primary campaign target as they were vulnerable to HIV infection.
"If their husbands are infected with HIV, women have the right to protect themselves through condoms. Otherwise, they will get infected as well," she said.
She added the commission would continue efforts to reduce the spread of HIV through cultural, social and personal approaches to people at risk of infection. (nia)
