TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian female raper Denada Tambunan and prominent actress Atiqah Hasiholan are among the well-known celebrities who provided their support for the #SayaBerani (I am Brave) campaign, the first major campaigns to widely use the power of social media to promote HIV testing in Indonesia.

The campaign was initially launched on November 18, 2016 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), community groups representing people living with HIV and key populations, the National AIDS Commission, the Atma Jaya AIDS Research Center and the media organization Rappler.

The initiative is aimed at increasing awareness on HIV testing among young people by providing information on HIV, including where to get an HIV test and encourages supporters to share photographs of themselves with ‘#SayaBerani’ written on their hands. The campaign is based on UNAIDS’ global Hands Up campaign, which promotes HIV prevention around the world.

"Getting an HIV test is painless, fast and confidential," said David Bridger, UNAIDS Country Director for Indonesia in a press release received by Tempo on November 30, 2016. "There is no reason to be afraid. We are thrilled to have such wide support from celebrities, who are leveraging their extensive social media platforms to spread this message far and wide."

Atiqah Hasiholan, who starred movies such as 'Java Heat', 'La Tahzan' and 'Jamila' and the 'President' posted a message to her Instagram followers saying "I am putting up my hand to join #SayaBerani campaign to challenge the stigma associated with HIV and the fear of having an HIV test."

Meanwhile, Denada Tambunan was also one of the first celebrities to share a post on her Instagram account. Denada wrote: "I join the #SayaBerani challenge to encourage women and young girls in Indonesia to be aware of the importance of knowing their HIV status and to take action in protecting themselves."

Countries, including Indonesia, have committed to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by achieving the '90-90-90' targets by 2020. The number 90-90-90 means that 90 percent of people living with HIV are aware of their HIV status, 90 percent of people who are aware of their HIV-positive status have access to medical treatment, and 90 percent of the people having medical treatment can be successful in suppressing the virus.

MAHINDA ARKYASA