TEMPO.CO, Banyuwangi – Dozens of HIV/AIDS prevention activists in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, sent a message to Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla, who were inaugurated as president and vice president on Monday. The activists walked for two kilometers, saying they wanted to send a letter to the newly-inaugurated president requesting the government to pay more attention to HIV/AIDS patients.

The activists walked from Jl. Adi Sucipto Street to the street in front of Banyuwangi Regency office on Monday, carrying various posters of babies and playpens.

The letter contains appeal to the Jokowi administration to earmark budget to HIV/AIDS patients. “HIV/AIDS handling in Indonesia still relies on funds from foreign countries,” said an HIV/AIDS activist from Bina Kerja Working Group.

According to the Health Ministry’s data, the number of HIV patients in Indonesia by June 2014 stood at 142,961, while the number of AIDS patients was 55,263. “In Banyuwangi, until July 2014, there were 1,921 HIV cases.”

Hamid, the rally's coordinator, said 31 percent of HIV/AIDS patients' lives hinged on anti-retroviral virus (ARV) medicine—an expensive, imported drug.

Hamid said the Jokowi government must be able to produce ARV medicine in Indonesia. “So, the price is cheaper and people can afford it,” he said.

IKA NINGTYAS