HIV/AIDS Speech

By : Anne April

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb / Good Morning!

    First of all, let us praise to the Almighty Allah swt, because of his blessing we are able to attend this English Practise Examination. May peace be upon the prophet Muhammad saw who guided us /from darkness into brightness.

    In this nice opportunity, i would like to say thank you so much to my teacher who has given me a chance to deliver a speech in front all of you. Next, I would also like to say thank you to all my friends for your coming to listen to my speech today. The topic of my speech today is HIV/AIDS.

I am honoured to address you on this such matter that so deeply affects people / in  this country and indeed,/ the whole world.

Ladies and gentleman,

HIV/AIDS has been with us for about three decades. In 2011’s survey, Jambi records 33 cases of HIV/AIDS in 10 years. This remains a problem whose solution continues to elude us all. We are making some progress in understanding this challenge, but we still have a long way to go, in containing its spread.

Ladies and gentleman,

    Many people are unaware of having HIV in their blood since they think that they don’t have or feel any symptoms of the disease. In the early stages of the infected, the victim doesn’t feel any symptoms. They don’t even know HIV is spreading among them. Why are they not aware of this possibility of getting infected??. What should they know about this disease? Or probably the core question is: what should we do to help them?

Ladies and gentleman,

Although people from all walks of life are affected, AIDS is hitting hard at the most vulnerable sections of our society. It is the poor, the illiterate, the marginalised, the women and the children who bear most of the burden of the HIV epidemic.

The face of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia has become more complex over the past 10 years. We are no longer dealing with information and awareness only, but also with people that are faced with the reality of living with the disease. The vast majority of them are undiagnosed. They do not know their HIV status. Some of them are already falling ill but they do not know that their illnesses are related to HIV/AIDS. And even ,if they do know ,or suspect, they are reluctant to come out and talk about their condition.

I stand before you today to further consolidate our partnership in responding to this major challenge particularly the stigma that continue to be associated with it. We seek your partnership because we know, that every Indonesian citizen, every leader, religious leaders has a special and unique role to play in, first, combating HIV infection, and then, caring for those living with HIV/AIDS.

Religious leaders have always played a role of caring for those who are weak and in need of support. I am convinced that they can also play a major role in fighting the stigma that is associated with HIV/AIDS and encourage openness and positive living amongst those who are infected and affected.

Ladies and gentleman,

Not only can religious leaders play their role, we, as well, can do some things. For examples, we can:

•    First, Campaign against discrimination

•    Secondly, Work together with government in achieving appropriate levels of cost-effective health care, especially home-based care

•    Next, Seek means to protect interests of particularly women and children

•    And last but not least, provide care which involves encouraging and supporting those who are infected and affected

We, therefore, need to send a positive message about HIV/AIDS. We need to tell people that just because you are HIV positive today, it does not mean you will get AIDS tomorrow and die. Co-factors such as poverty, high levels of mainly childhood malnutrition, vitamin A and iodine deficiency as well as lack of other micronutrients have a major impact on how one progress to full-blown AIDS.

We have to advise those infected and affected by HIV, that by eating nutritious food, managing their stress, treating any infection promptly, including sexually transmitted infections and using condoms, they can live longer and lead a healthy and productive life for many years.

We need to use this opportunity to declare our response to AIDS:

-    We are called to love

-    We are called to be compassionate and care

-    We should commit ourselves to speaking publicly and promote HIV/AIDS prevention and ABC messages

-    We should promote and provide care for those who are infected and affected

-    We should fight the sins of discrimination and stigma

-    We should work together with other sectors of society to seek ways of eliminating poverty.

Ladies and gentleman,

I strongly believe that if we can leave this room with a strong re-affirmation as the religious leaders of this country, we will be able to provide hope for the community and for society as a whole: That in the spirit of love, compassion and care, through collective efforts to confront and to challenge discrimination, we can overcome many of the challenges posed to us by HIV/AIDS.

Thank you.