•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Ignorance of HIV/AIDS and discrimination against those who live with it apparently runs high in Indonesia, a country with one of the fastest-growing HIV infection rates in the region.

A 30-year-old woman living with HIV, identified as LD, told the Jakarta Globe that health workers in a Central Jakarta hospital had told her that she had to have a tubectomy, a surgical procedure for permanent female contraception.

“The doctor was forcing me to undergo a tubectomy just because I am an HIV-positive person,” LD said. “And I am very disappointed as it is one of the referral hospitals where people like me should be treated well and equally.”

She sought a second opinion in a North Jakarta hospital, but was told the same thing.

“I feel like they are violating my reproductive rights by forcing me,” she said.

She eventually found a government hospital in Central Jakarta where doctors gave her other options.

In 2008, LD was in hospital undergoing a caesarian birth, which significantly reduces the risk of mother-to-child infection compared to conventional delivery.

But she said her baby’s crib was labeled “HIV Positive Baby” as soon as her child was born.

“After they tested the baby, my baby was negative,” she said, adding that her child remains free from the virus to date.

LD added that she was kept away from her child. “I wanted my baby beside me as a mother. I had the right to see her, but they did not allow me as she was ‘under doctor surveillance,’ ” she said.

She then described how the doctors wrote her a prescription to stop her from producing milk. “I would not do harm to my baby,” she said, adding that she was aware of the increased risk of passing on the infection by breast feeding.

Dini, who is also HIV positive, said she was rejected at one of the referral hospitals in East Jakarta when she fell ill.

“I am deeply concerned that our health officers stigmatize us,” Dini said.

Hariadi Wisnu Wardana from the Health Ministry AIDS subdirectorate said that such cases did not reflect government policy.

“A mother with HIV/AIDS can become pregnant as long as she can take care of herself. Tubectomy is not a [required] procedure and rejecting a patient, whatever the disease, is never acceptable,” Wardana said.

“However, I should admit that we do have some officials like that,” he said, adding that the government was improving communication with hospitals to ensure patients received better treatment.

Rohana Manggala, the head of the Commission on HIV/AIDS Prevention Jakarta (KPA), said access to health care of people living with HIV should be guaranteed .

“Removing their right to access health care risks spreading infections,” Manggala said.

She said based on the Asian Epidemic Model, there would be 60,150 new cases in 2010 if there was no behavior change, which includes access to health services. “We have to work fast to curb the disease,” she said.