T

he spread of HIV in the nation’s eastern provinces has prompted local administrations to raise awareness about the virus and roll out more HIV programs at health facilities.

Oesapa puskesmas (community health center) in Kupang, the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has launched a HIV care facility.

“I hope the health center can be a model for the handling of HIV in Kupang, especially because Oesapa subdistrict has the largest population [in the city] of 28,000,” Kupang mayor Jonas Salean said at the recent launch of the facility.

Citing data in the region from 2000 until May 2016, Jonas said that there had been 884 cases of HIV in the city, 625 of which were HIV cases and 259 were AIDS cases. Of the number, 513 were male and 371 were female. With 141 cases, Oesapa accounted for largest number of cases.

Kupang Health Agency head Ari Wijaya said Oesapa health center was chosen because, based on the results of monitoring conducted by his agency and the city, Oesapa was one of the biggest bases for the spread of infectious diseases including HIV-related diseases.

“Sexually transmitted diseases are highly correlated with HIV,” Ari said.

As a facility offering treatment for HIV positive people, Ari said, Oesapa puskesmas provided comprehensive support facilities including voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) as well as HIV specialists.

Other health facilities offering HIV care in the city include the puskesmas in Alak subdistrict, which is home to a number of red-light districts and night entertainment spots.

Mayor Jonas said his administration would provide ID card-based medication, among other things, so that residents would no longer need to show insurance cards such as the state-organized JKN insurance card, to receive medical treatment at health facilities.

“Just ID cards will do. The budget is based on the number of sick people treated,” he said.

The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB)administration has also recorded a rising number of HIV cases, with a total of 1,194 cases this year. Most of the cases occurred in the provincial capital Mataram, East Lombok and West Lombok.

West Nusa Tenggara AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA NTB) head Soehermanto said that for the past five years there had been five VCT-equipped facilities provided for HIV-positive patients on Lombok Island.

“We have campaigned for people to get themselves tested at the VCT facilities. We have also encouraged husbands not to engage in extra-marital affairs,” he said.

Soehermanto said heterosexual couples accounted for the majority of HIV cases with 67 percent, while homosexual couples made up only 10 percent of the cases.  The remainder of the cases were caused by syringe sharing between drug users and transmission from mothers to children during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

He said the stigma faced by HIV positive individuals discouraged people from getting themselves tested at health centers, despite the fact that such tests were free.