DENPASAR, NusaBali
Commemorating World AIDS Day, Wednesday (1/12), Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati (Cok Ace) invites the whole community to build awareness together, to prevent HIV/AIDS.
Deputy Governor Cok Ace said that HIV/AIDS is like an iceberg phenomenon. In a period of 34 years since 1987, people with HIV/AIDS in Bali reached 25,699 cases.
“All stakeholders must continue to make efforts to prevent the transmission of this disease, with intensive socialization to the community,” said Cok Ace accompanied by the Head of the Bali Provincial Health Service, Dr. I Ketut Suarjaya NPPM, after attending a visit to the Bali Province AIDS Commission (KPA) Office in Jalan Melati Denpasar, Wednesday afternoon.
Cok Ace said that the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the factors in the decline in the number of HIV/AIDS sufferers in Bali this year. This indicates the growing awareness in the community to stay away from risk factors for HIV/AIDS transmission. “We hope that even though the Covid-19 pandemic will end, the number of people with HIV/AIDS will also continue to decline,” said the figure from Puri Agung Ubud, Ubud District, Gianyar.
Apart from growing public awareness, said Cok Ace, the decline in HIV/AIDS cases in Bali also occurred because of living a healthy lifestyle during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it is also due to a change in the mindset or stigma of society towards people with HIV/AIDS.
“The change in stigma has made those infected with HIV/AIDS grow self-confidence to seek treatment. Those who are at risk should also have themselves checked as early as possible,” said the former Gianyar Regent from 2008 to 2013.
According to Cok Ace, public awareness and understanding of people with HIV/AIDS continues to increase, because sufferers are no longer ostracized or discriminated against in society. In addition, advances in technology and medicine that continue to develop also make people aware of themselves to seek treatment. “I hope that in the future AIDS cases will continue to decline along with increasing public awareness,” hoped this tourism figure who is also the Chair of the Bali PHRI BPD.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Provincial KPA Secretariat, Anak Agung Ngurah Patria Nugraha, said that in the midst of the current Covid-19 pandemic, his party was still conducting socialization related to HIV/AIDS prevention. “We do socialization through webinars and online media. Thus, it is hoped that AIDS cases in Bali Province will continue to decrease in distribution,” said Ngurah Patria.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, Ketut Suarjaya, stated that the cumulative number of HIV/AIDS cases in Bali from 1987 to 2021 reached 25,699 cases. Of that number, 16,174 cases were suffered by men and 9,525 cases in women.
According to Suarjaya, the 25,699 HIV/AIDS cases were spread across 9 districts/cities throughout Bali. The most cases occurred in Denpasar City reaching 13,754 cases of HIV/AIDS. While the second most occurred in Badung Regency reaching 3,427 cases, followed by Buleleng (3,170 cases), Gianyar (1,983 cases), Jembrana (1,134 cases), Tabanan (1,091 cases), Karangasem (524 cases), Klungkung (368 cases), and Bangli. (248 cases).
“Although there is a trend of decreasing cases, prevention by socializing the dangers of HIV/AIDS is still being intensively carried out by the Bali Provincial Health Office together with relevant stakeholders,” explained the bureaucrat from Pengastulan Village, Seririt District, Buleleng.
Suarjaya explained that of the 25,699 cases of HIV/AIDS in Bali during the 34-year period, the transmission occurred due to various causes, in which men had higher risk factors. “HIV/AIDS transmission is mostly caused by risky and unsafe sexual relations, ranging from bisexual, homosexual, to heterosexual. Some are also caused by tattoos with unsterile needles,” said Suarjaya. *nat
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