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non-profit foundation focusing on HIV/AIDS, Live Spirit Family Support, based in Salatiga, Central Java, has been promoting a breakthrough at-home voluntary counseling test (VCT).

Foundation founder Andreas Bambang said people were reluctant to come to a clinic for a VCT due to ignorance or negative perceptions about HIV in the community.

'€œI am offering to come to their home or having them come to mine in Salatiga for the test, so they can keep their privacy,'€ Andreas said in Ungaran, Semarang regency, on Saturday.

Andreas considered the self, at-home HIV test as an alternative because VCT had only been at community health centers (Puskesmas) or hospitals appointed by the government.

He said he had been providing at-home VCT services for the last three months to 30 people '€” all of them tested negative.

Andreas, who established the foundation in 2005 after his son was declared HIV positive, used a rapid test method '€” similar to that used at the Puskesmas '€” which needed less than an hour for the results.

In the service, the test patient is offered counseling prior to the test before having a blood sample taken. The blood test results will be available in 15 minutes and the test taker will be given another counseling session about their HIV status.

Andreas suggested that VCT be an obligatory test for the public, even to those deemed less susceptible to HIV contraction.

The official data at the Central Java Women Empowerment Child Protection and Family Planning Agency (BP3AKB) showed that from 1993 to 2012 there were 5,301 cases of HIV/AIDS in the province.

Of the figure, private sector employees accounted for 20.26 percent at the top rank, followed by housewives with 18.3 percent

'€œI hope paramedics and health centers will be prepared to deal with the increasingly massive spread of HIV/AIDS,'€ said Andreas, adding that his foundation aimed to offer the service to at-risk men and gay people in 2015.

Noted veteran actor Roy Marten, who has used the foundation'€™s VCT service, praised the service. '€œThe procedure is not complicated,'€ he said over the phone.

He said he was moved to take the test because he had the potential of being infected with HIV. Roy was arrested twice in 2006 and 2007, both relating to drug use, and received sentences totaling to 30 months in prison.

'€œIn the past, housewives, it was said, could never get infected by HIV. Nowadays, they are vulnerable. This shows that HIV/AIDS can infect anyone,'€ Roy said.

By participating in VCT, he added, he could know quickly whether he was HIV positive and could directly get treatment if found positive.

Roy expressed hope that people would be more and more aware of the importance of participating in VCT and get rid of the perception that those taking VCT were automatically HIV/AIDS positive.

'€œThe majority of people with HIV/AIDS get medical treatment only when it'€™s too late. They can prevent worsening conditions by knowing their condition much earlier,'€ Roy said.

Foundation founder Andreas Bambang said people were reluctant to come to a clinic for a VCT due to ignorance or negative perceptions about HIV in the community.

'€œI am offering to come to their home or having them come to mine in Salatiga for the test, so they can keep their privacy,'€ Andreas said in Ungaran, Semarang regency, on Saturday.

Andreas considered the self, at-home HIV test as an alternative because VCT had only been at community health centers (Puskesmas) or hospitals appointed by the government.

He said he had been providing at-home VCT services for the last three months to 30 people '€” all of them tested negative.

Andreas, who established the foundation in 2005 after his son was declared HIV positive, used a rapid test method '€” similar to that used at the Puskesmas '€” which needed less than an hour for the results.

In the service, the test patient is offered counseling prior to the test before having a blood sample taken. The blood test results will be available in 15 minutes and the test taker will be given another counseling session about their HIV status.

Andreas suggested that VCT be an obligatory test for the public, even to those deemed less susceptible to HIV contraction.

The official data at the Central Java Women Empowerment Child Protection and Family Planning Agency (BP3AKB) showed that from 1993 to 2012 there were 5,301 cases of HIV/AIDS in the province.

Of the figure, private sector employees accounted for 20.26 percent at the top rank, followed by housewives with 18.3 percent

'€œI hope paramedics and health centers will be prepared to deal with the increasingly massive spread of HIV/AIDS,'€ said Andreas, adding that his foundation aimed to offer the service to at-risk men and gay people in 2015.

Noted veteran actor Roy Marten, who has used the foundation'€™s VCT service, praised the service. '€œThe procedure is not complicated,'€ he said over the phone.

He said he was moved to take the test because he had the potential of being infected with HIV. Roy was arrested twice in 2006 and 2007, both relating to drug use, and received sentences totaling to 30 months in prison.

'€œIn the past, housewives, it was said, could never get infected by HIV. Nowadays, they are vulnerable. This shows that HIV/AIDS can infect anyone,'€ Roy said.

By participating in VCT, he added, he could know quickly whether he was HIV positive and could directly get treatment if found positive.

Roy expressed hope that people would be more and more aware of the importance of participating in VCT and get rid of the perception that those taking VCT were automatically HIV/AIDS positive.

'€œThe majority of people with HIV/AIDS get medical treatment only when it'€™s too late. They can prevent worsening conditions by knowing their condition much earlier,'€ Roy said.