HIV/AIDS in Indonesia - National Response

National Response

Indonesia established a National AIDS Commission in 1994 to focus on preventing the spread of HIV, addressing the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, and coordinating government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private sector, and community activities. The Government of Indonesia signified its continued commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in 2005 when it budgeted $13 million to HIV/AIDS programs, an increase of 40 percent over the amount disbursed in 2004. However, the national budget for HIV/AIDS has since been stagnant. A 2006 Presidential Regulation reinforced the Commission’s position as the The National AIDS Strategy for 2003–2007 stressed the role of prevention as the core of Indonesia’s HIV/AIDS program, while recognizing the urgent need to scale up treatment, care, and support services. The strategy emphasized the importance of conducting proper HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) surveillance; carrying out operational research; creating an enabling environment through legislation, advocacy, capacity building, and antidiscrimination efforts; and promoting sustainability. Building upon this framework, the National AIDS Strategy for 2007–2010 added the priority targets of reaching 80 percent of people most-at-risk with comprehensive prevention programs; influencing 60 percent of the most-at-risk population to change their behaviors; and providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 80 percent of those in need.

The Government of Indonesia initiated a program to subsidise the cost of ART in 2004. By 2005, the program provided low-cost ART at 50 hospitals. However, only 20 percent of HIV-infected people received ART in 2006, according to UNAIDS, and for every one person who starts ART another six get infected. Treatment adherence continues to be a challenge in Indonesia as more often than not, people living with HIV drop out of antiretroviral therapy due to many complex factors. Other competing demands on the government such as dealing with natural disasters and other health emergencies such as avian influenza also pose challenges to sustaining the momentum of the AIDS response.

Indonesia's local governments have investigated innovative techniques to slow down the spread of the disease, including using microchip tagging technology to keep track of the infected individuals known to be sexually active.