HIV STOP WITH ME ! HIV STOP WITH ME !

Action to Eliminate Stigma and Discrimination by People living with HIV in Bandung
Action to Eliminate Stigma and Discrimination by People Living with HIV in Bandung

Indonesia HIV intervention program has been implemented in Indonesia for more than 25 years. Yet, stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV still persist. As an HIV positive person, I strongly encourage people living with HIV to open their status and do action to reduce stigma and discrimination. We should inform people about HIV and convince them that HIV is not as bad as they thought; and that HIV is not easily transmitted. We must show people that living with HIV does not differs us from others and does not prevent us from having a healthy life. Our difference is just a status on a piece of paper. But if people living with HIV are reluctant to open their status and chose to live differently, the question is : who creates the stigma and discrimination anyway? I experienced struggle to gain social acceptance. I worked with Warga Peduli AIDS, a group of people who concern about AIDS in my village. We did activities to promote HIV prevention. They did not know I am HIV positive. I keep the secret for quite a while. I had a very long contemplation before arrived at the decision to open my status. I challenged myself to tell my status in front of audience in a meeting that we hosted. My confession startled 350 people in the meeting. But I did not receive any stigmatization or discrimination at all. Instead, people showed sympathy and acceptance. My struggle to obtain social acceptance inspired 18 people living with HIV in my village to open their status. This also inspired 23 people living with HIV in other areas to open their status in the place they live in. We, people living with HIV might be seen as the rubbish of the society. But we prove that rubbish could be recycled into something useful. Now, we are getting intense in our action to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV. Our motto is HIV Stop with Me. We give information about HIV to volunteer health cadres in several villages. We help people living with HIV who need to access health service and we also collect donation to support them. Our activity has currently expanded into several sub districts in Bandung city and has received appreciations. We believe that direct participation of people living with HIV in the effort to reduce stigma and discrimination is very crucial. Our action is not final yet. But we proud of our work so far.