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Indonesians with HIV fight prejudice with healthy living
A stigma persists among the uninformed that people living with HIV are unhealthy and irresponsible. Some Indonesians living healthy lives with the condition are taking to social media to fight the negative perceptions.
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Hero: Asep (front, speaking) receives an HIV Hero Award from the Bangkok-based APCOM in 2019. (Personal collection/Courtesy of Asep Saepudin)
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em>A stigma persists among the uninformed that people living with HIV are unhealthy and irresponsible. Some Indonesians living healthy lives with the condition are taking to social media to fight the negative perceptions.
“Confusion, sadness and fear.” This was how 26-year-old Asep Saepudin described how he felt after being diagnosed with HIV three years ago.
He felt down for a while, but Asep also felt “lucky” because he was quite well informed about HIV and its treatment. He used this knowledge as a foundation to rebuild his confidence.
“I know that as long as I take ARV medication religiously, I will be fine,” said Asep, who currently resides in Seminyak, Bali.
Antiretroviral (ARV) medication is taken by people living with HIV to suppress the virus in their body to undetectable levels.
Asep’s parents initially did not believe their son when he broke the news, mainly because he was not showing any signs of illness. After Asep showed them the test results, he received nothing but support from his parents.
“They were sad but supportive nevertheless,” Asep said. “Whenever I went out to get tested [for HIV], I always told them so they would not be too shocked if the results came back positive.”
