Embracing Children Living with HIV/AIDS

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Three resident children take a walk on 18 July 2019 on the grounds of the Lentera Foundation’s shelter in Solo, Central Java. Children living with HIV/AIDS still face widespread discrimination, primarily due to social stigma and the general lack of awareness about HIV transmission.

Children living with HIV/AIDS must not be forgotten amid the efforts to improve public health services. Their number is merely the tip of the iceberg.

We have commemorated National Children\'s Day every 23 July since 1984. This warning aims to remind us all about the importance of the role and existence of children in the nation’s life. Children are the next generation, so that their life’s journey to adulthood must be of high quality. Therefore, the guarantees on the basic rights of children must be fulfilled.

Nevertheless, Indonesian children still experience physical, psychological and sexual violence, as well as financial neglect in their immediate environment, including their peers. Many children also face problems accessing quality education and health services, while others face child marriage and the threat of drugs.

According to a 2018 survey by a British institution, Indonesian youth aged 15-21 years are among the happiest in the world. These include Indonesian children living with HIV/AIDS (ADHA). The Kompas daily, along with Kompas TV, Kompas.com and the Kontan daily, published articles on ADHA from Monday to Wednesday to mark National Children\'s Day 2019 to remind us all about their existence. They have become children who cannot give voice to their situation or, if they do speak up, their voices are unheard.

We need to embrace ADHA because they are part of us. They were infected with HIV through their HIV-positive mothers while they were in the womb, through the birth canal, or through breastfeeding. Other means of transmission include transfusions with contaminated blood.

The number of children living with HIV/AIDS on the Health Ministry’s official records is not large, even though the figure almost doubled from 2010 to to 2,881 children aged 0-19 years in 2018. What requires caution is that not all parents of ADHA understand or report their children’s health. This raises the specter of the iceberg phenomenon, where only the peak is visible and the largest part is below the surface.

We need to raise awareness on stigmatizing and discriminating against ADHA, instead of sweeping the issue under the rug, so as to prevent compounding the challenges of HIV/AIDS management and providing assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS, including children.

Research on HIV is still developing, as well as on treatments and drugs to prevent infection and to suppress the virus. The government needs to increase the availability of viral suppression drugs and intensify its efforts to prevent HIV transmission. We also expect civil society organizations to help improve public knowledge and awareness about the virus.

Early and regular treatment can suppress the number of the virus in the bodies of HIV-positive children while preventing potential HIV transmission. Therefore, children living with HIV/AIDS can grow into productive figures to contribute their energy and ideas for the public good.