HIV / AIDS: Isu Siguransa Publiku Nian

Simbolu ema hetan moras HIV SIDA

Ministeriu Saude anunsia katak kazu HIV kona-bá Povu Timor-Leste hamutuk 263 husi total populasaun nasaun nian 1.066.582 (Timor-Leste Sensus, 2010). Ida ne’e komfirmadu husi tinan 2003 nia, hamutuk 294, 31 mate ona 73 sei hetan tratamentu antiretroviral (Ministerio da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012).

Bazeia ba numeru sira ne’e, FM husu ba povu Timor-Leste atu fo atensaun ba HIV nudar ameasa boot ba publiku no mos durante periodu. Ameasa ba saude pupulasaun Timor-Leste no vida moris la’os tenki mai husi kilat ka konflitus maibé dala ruma mos mai husi moras aat sira.
Surpreza los, vitima HIV hamtuk 17 hosi total 263 ne’ebe sei moris mak labarik sira ne’e ho idade tinan. Labarik nain 5 hosi idade tinan 5 liu.
(Ministerio da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012). Asuntu konaba Seitor Siguransa nian, Fundasaun Mahein (FM) nia fokus mos ba vitima nain 9 husi PNTL ne’ebé mos pozitivu da’et moras virus HIV.

Husi kazu sira ne’e hatudu katak virus HIV lalais liu da’et iha nasaun laran ne’e wainhira la fo atensaun diak ba problema ne’e. Populasaun Timor-Leste liu deit milliaun ida liu. Ida ne’e labele tolera atu lakon nia populasaun satan numeiru boot hanesan 294. Maibé ameasa mosu husi efeitu lolos ne’ebé mosu. Iha tinan 2003, komfirmadu katak kazu 1 kona-bá HIV nian. Tinan tuir nian 2004 kazu 4 mak da’et tan mos komfirmadu no total ba kazu 4. Iha tinan 2011 aumentan tan kazu to kedas 47 HIV ne’ebé komfirmadu no ba tinan ida ne’e total kazu 216. Ba tinan ida ne’e, entre fulan Janeiru-Junu 2012, iha kazu 28 HIV ne’ebe komfirmadu mos (Ministeriu da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012). Moras ida ne’e da’et maka’as los iha Timor-Leste.

Ita hanoin tok ho konkrit katak kona-bá inan sira iha Timor. Inan ida be kous oan hamutuk 7-9 iha sosidade Timor nain. Ho ida ne’e mak HIV da’et ba nia oan sira momentu isin rua no to fo susu ben inan nian. Ida ne’e jeralmente infeksi HIV da’et lalais los ba labarik oan sira (Center for Disease Control, 2012). Ita labele halo oinsa mak risku ba future labarik oan sira iha Timor-Leste ho dala ida ne’ebé HIV da’et ba sira ho lalais.

Kazu 294 HIV ne’e kazu ne’ebé identifikadu ona. Iha numeiru seluk ne’ebé boot liu ne’ebé iha, inklui iha distritus sira Oekussi, Liquica, Manatuto katak kazu HIV ne’e identifika ona no iha numeiru kazu HIV ida komfirmadu . Virus HIV da’et husi daun sona ho aimoruk nian ben, halo bebeik relasaun seksual, sona husu daun ne’ebé uzadu ona inan isin rua sira no momentu sira tur ahi (Center for Disease Control, 2012). Kazu seluk iha daera izoladu remotas talves labele da’et. Kada kazu HIV iha area remotas sidauk komfirma maibé iha pontensial tebes bele hada’et iha Timor laran tomak.
dala ruma ITimor-Leste tenki halo asaun kombate imidiatu.

HIV / AIDS moras at ne’ebé bele halo prevensaun. Nudar komunidade ita tenki atensaun virus HIV ne’ebé da’et barak iha Timor-Leste.
ho ida ne’e FM hakarak fo rekomendasaun balun:

1.) Privasidade ne’ebé bazeadu ba lei kona-bá status HIV. Status HIV tenki sai individu nia privasidade, Governu/Autor Saude fo asistensia mediku ba sira. Ema hotu-hotu iha diretu atu hetan tratanmentu mediku privadu.

2.) Atu halo skrining ba moras HIV ba entrypoints iha Timor-Leste inklue Air Portu, Portu Marina, Fronteira entere Indonezia ho Timor-Leste.

3.) Tenki estabelese centru cek up ba moras HIV ho sistema mobiliariu ba sub-distritus sira kada fulan-fulan iha teritoriu Timor-Leste. Dadaun ne’e numeiru iha distritu ki’ik maibé hada’et ne’e dala ruma bele sa’e. Nune’e mos, total numeiru kiik liu du ke kazu sira ne’ebe komfirma tiha ona, bele mos liga ba fasilidae ne’ebé la kompletu ba detekta moras HIV nian iha distritus sira. Se laiha ema ida mak halo komfirmasaun, oinsa mak bele hatene katak iha infeksi HIV?

4.) Kontinua halo promosaun kona-bá saude inan ho kosol oan sira. Inan isin rua bele iha infeksi HIV/AIDS sei lafo da’et ba oan karik tratamentu diak para moris ho diak.

5.) Edukasaun seks nian bele hatama iha kurikulum ba sidadaun sira atu ne’ebé bele halo prevensaun ba infesaun HIV iha Timor-Leste.

6.) Nasionalista tiha programa kombate HIV/AIDS ne’e laos ba deit Ministeru Saude nian, maibé mos tenki sai servisu integradu husi Ministeriu hotu-hotu. Infeksaun HIV AIDS ne’e nudar problema siguransa. Ne’e mos ameasa boot ida ba povu tomak nia saude la liu hosi agresaun fisiku ka konfliktus ruma.

7.) Governu tenki fo foka ba povu, oinsa kordena diak atu halo asaun preventiva no ema ida ida halo responsabilidade ba asaun kona-bá prevensaun nian inklui oinsa mak halo relasaun seks seguru.

8.) ba feto ho mane hotu-hotu habitua lori komdom. No haberan feto sira atu trata sira nia saude iha sentru saude ho diak.

Fundasaun Mahein (FM) fo obrigadu barak ba Ministeru Saude ne’ebé bele update kona-bá HIV/AIDS. Povu tomak tenki hamtuk atu funu hasoru ameasa HIV/AIDS.

FM husu ba Ministeru Saude atu halo up-date seminal kona-bá dadus no tatal infeksaun kazu HIV/AIDS, ida ne’e sei halo ema hotu hanoin oinsa hamutuk para funu kontra moras aat ne’e.
Fundasaun Mahein (FM) mos suporta ba sidadaun Timor-Leste ba sira ne’ebé mak hetan infesaun husu atu bele fo an hodi skrining kona-bá HIV/AIDS iha sentru saude sira iha teritoriu laran tomak.

HIV/AIDS: A Public Security Issue

The Minister of Health announced a total 263 active cases of HIV in Timor-Leste from the total population of 1,066,582 (Timor-Leste Census, 2010). This is from 294 confirmed cases since 2003, where 31 individuals have already died from the disease. 73 individuals are currently under treatment of antiretroviral drugs (Ministerio da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012). Based upon these numbers, FM urges the people of Timor-Leste to consider HIV a public security threat during this period of stability. Threats to Timorese citizens’ health and safety do not always come from weapons; sometimes it comes from disease.

Shockingly, 17 of the 263 individuals alive are children under 5 years old. 5 children under 5 years old have already passed away (Ministerio da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012). Within the security sector, on which Fundasaun Mahein (FM) focuses, 9 National Police officers are known to have the HIV virus.

These cases demonstrate how quickly HIV can spread in a country without adequate attention to the issue. Timor-Leste is a country of just over one million people. It cannot afford to lose any citizens, much less 294 citizens. Yet the real danger lies in disease’s compounding effect. In 2003, there was 1 confirmed case of HIV. In 2004 this spread to 3 additional cases for a total of 4 confirmed cases. In 2011 there were 47 additional cases of HIV that year for a total of 216 confirmed cases. In the first half of this year, just between January-June of 2012, there were 28 more confirmed cases (Ministerio da Saude liu husi servise SIS, 2012). The disease is spreading faster and faster in Timor-Leste.

We can also think about this in the more concrete terms of the Timorese mother. One Timorese woman can be reasonably expected to have 7-10 children. A mother with HIV, without proper medication, can pass the disease onto her children at any point during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding. This is the most common path of HIV infection for children (Center for Disease Control, 2012). We cannot risk the futures of Timor-Leste’s children in this way.

294 is the number of known cases. Other, unidentified cases must surely exist. Several of the districts – including Oecussi, Liquica, and Manatuto district reported only 1 confirmed case of HIV/AIDS per district. The HIV virus spreads through the transfer of bodily fluids – most commonly through sexual activity, shared needles, and during pregnancy and birth (Center for Disease Control, 2012). Isolated cases in isolated regions seem very unlikely. Each of these unconfirmed but existing cases of HIV has the potential to spread the infection to other Timorese.

This is unless Timor-Leste takes the appropriate preventative measures immediately. HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease. As a community, we can stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Timor-Leste.

FM has the following proposals:

1.) Institute privacy laws for HIV statuses. HIV statuses should be between the individual, their healthcare providers, and the government. Everybody has a right to private treatment.

2.) To conduct HIV screening at all entrypoints into Timor-Leste including airports, seaports, and along the land border with Indonesia.

3.) To create mobile testing centers to go from District to District on a monthly basis. The confirmed numbers in the districts are low currently, but compounding could quickly change those numbers into a big problem. Furthermore, the lower number of confirmed cases could be attributed to a lack of testing facilities in the Districts. Because if nobody will confirm you, how would you know you are infected?

4.) Promote maternal and childhood health. A mother has HIV/AIDS does not have to pass HIV/AIDS to her child if the mother can receive the proper pre- and post- natal care.

5.) Institute civic education programs with sex education and HIV prevention methods as part of school curricula.

6.) Make this not just an issue for the Ministry of Health but involve every minister. The spread of HIV/AIDS is a security issue. It is one of the primary threats against Timorese health in a period without much violence.

7.) Focus on community coordination. As with any other infectious problem, each citizen has a responsibility to involve themselves in prevention efforts including safe sex practices and safe hospital practices.

8.) Female condom distribution. Empower women to take care of their health.

Fundasaun Mahein (FM) thanks the Ministry of Health for this update on HIV/AIDS. The community can come together to combat a threat only when the community knows the true conditions of the threat. We would appreciate a weekly update on the growing numbers of confirmed HIV/AIDS cases to increase public awareness on how such a disease can spread.

Fundasaun Mahein (FM) would also encourage citizens of Timor-Leste to get themselves screened for HIV/AIDS.