SPEARS
(Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness During COVID-19 Pandemic)
SCORA CIMSA UPH
People say that ignorance is bliss – well, to some point it is; that saying only applies to people who overthink unnecessary things, such as worrying about tomorrow’s problems when they are supposed to just be appreciating the present.
However, one cannot say that ignorance towards proper education is the right way to go. One of the most prominent examples of proper education that is not properly taught and is still taboo up until this day would be education about sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS.
In fact, according to 2019 data, there are still 349,883 Indonesian citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS, which was a drastic decrease from the 640,433 figures in 2016. Despite the improvement, it is still undeniable that the number of HIV/AIDS patients is still far from ideal.
Furthermore, 23% of these patients still prefer to not adhere to their ARV (anti-retroviral) medication that has been proven to be very effective in treating HIV/AIDS and has also been made free and very accessible in public health centers and hospitals in 34 provinces and 296 districts in all of Indonesia.
Not only are their knowledge of HIV/AIDS very minimal, but a large portion of Indonesian citizens ranging from 17-25 years old still do not have adequate knowledge on sexual and reproductive health. This is reflected by the fact that 70% out of the 700 marriages granted by a Religious Court in the province of D.I. Yogyakarta happened because of pre-marital pregnancy.
Based on these facts, SCORA CIMSA UPH held a webinar on the 30th of August 2021, titled ‘SPEARS’ (Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness During COVID-19 Pandemic) with a purpose to educate more people about proper sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS. This webinar was divided into two major sessions brought by Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana Nasional (BKKBN) and Rutgers WPF Indonesia. We also held a pre and post-test to assess the knowledge of the participants as well as reviewing in a fun way that is through the Kahoot session. We do hope that this could be the start of a ripple effect that will bring about good change, albeit a little, for the sake of a better Indonesia.
