Indonesia: Slamat kondom!

Indonesia's first National Condom Week

Safe sex is on the agenda for the first time this year, as the government prepares for the country’s first ever National Condom Week 2007 next month. The campaign is a national effort to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially HIV/AIDS, by encouraging safe sex.
The week-long even is set to kick off on December 1 and would coincide with the commemoration of international HIV/AIDS day.
A number of events will be organized, including the distribution of free condoms, a music concert, various artistic competitions and other kinds of campaigns. All events would aim to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of safe sex and using condoms to avoid STDs.
“We (want to reduce) the prevalence of HIV/AIDS nationally,” chairman of the National Family Planning Coordinating Board, Sugiri Syarief, said.
“And we need to do this by encouraging the use of condoms as an effective way to prevent the transmission of diseases (via unsafe sex),” he said.
“National Condom Week is expected (to help) change (existing) stigmas about condoms — and to give (the public) an understanding that condoms are a safe contraceptive device.”
Sugiri said the nationwide use of condoms as a contraception was still low compared to neighboring countries.
Recent data from the country’s health ministry showed some 5,904 people infected with HIV and 10,384 people living with AIDS.
It is estimated between 176,000 and 247,000 more have been infected with the virus during 2006.
Desy Nurhayati (Jakarta Post)

 

Indonesia to launch first-ever national condom campaign

8-11-2007

Indonesia is to launch its first-ever national campaign to promote condom use to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually-transmitted infections including HIV and AIDS.

National Condom Week will coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, said Sugiri Syarief, head of the National Family Planning Board who is overseeing the event.

The groundbreaking campaign will involve condom distribution, education on the benefits of using condoms as well as following safe sex practices, and other events aimed at helping lift the stigma attached to using condoms.

Government efforts to promote condom use have so far focused on family planning and not generated much enthusiasm. Condoms account for less than one per cent of all contraception used in Indonesia.

The head of the Indonesian Council of Mosques, Tarmidzi Taher, said the campaign was partly aimed not at getting Muslim leaders to endorse the use of condoms but to allow them to "understand the medical arguments for them."

Source: IPPF AFP  Push Journal 07/Nov/07

 

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