[Jakarta]  The fear of being further ostracized by society has been found to be a significant factor discouraging members of the country’s gay and transgender communities from taking up voluntary testing for HIV/AIDS, the Inter Medika Foundation said on Tuesday.

Harry Prabowo, the director of the foundation, which works to prevent the spread of the disease in Indonesia, said that being diagnosed with HIV risked double stigmatization that could lead to severe depression.

“As gays, transvestites and men who have sex with men, or MSM, we are already rejected because our sexual orientation differs from the mainstream,” he said.

“Once we are infected with HIV or AIDS, people will see us as even more filthy and we will be further shunned by society.”

To help prevent the spread of the disease, he said that members of these communities needed to be motivated to take voluntary counseling and testing, or VCT.

“They need to be motivated to take VCT because they are at high risk of being infected by this disease, especially those who practice unsafe sex,” he said, adding that the motivation should not only come from members of these communities, but also from their families and friends.

HIV screening tests can be taken at clinics in hospitals designated by the government and nongovernmental organizations to focus on the disease.

Standard VCT, which takes a few days before results are known, costs between Rp 10,000 (87 cents) and Rp 15,000.

Rapid HIV tests are also available, returning results within 15 minutes, although they are only 75 percent accurate.

The Indonesian government earmarked Rp 21 billion for National AIDS Commission programs this year. The commission also expects to receive an additional $2.18 million in aid from a global fund supported by the World Bank and other international donors to assist mitigation efforts and support families suffering financially because of the disease.

Subagio MS, the intergovernmental body director at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said the ministry was working closely with the media, nongovernmental organizations, academics, local authorities, local communities and religious leaders across the country to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

“We are facilitating the distribution of information to all layers of society, working with them as well as with local officials,” he said.

“Providing education and public dialogue about the issue are some of the ways we can promote the importance of taking VCT.”

Subagio said the ministry hoped that by promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS infection, more people would be encouraged to be screened for the disease.

“Awareness of the problem and the willingness to be tested will help to change society’s attitudes,” he said. “This change of attitude would then help the country deal with HIV/AIDS.”

UN data shows 193,000 Indonesians had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS as of 2007, but that figure jumped to 270,000 the next year.

In Jakarta, the Ministry of Health recently reported that as of October 2008, 47,000 people in the city had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, the disease is concentrated in high-risk groups, including intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers.

According to National AIDS Commission figures, the disease has already reached epidemic proportions in Papua and West Papua provinces.

In 2007, a government study reported Papua had the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country, at nearly 20 times the national average.

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