Denpasar.
Bali has opened the country’s first ever clinic geared toward the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender community.
The Bali
Medika Clinic, located on Jalan Kalianget in the popular tourist area of Kuta,
has been in operation since Sept. 27 but was officially opened on Saturday,
with the mission of tackling the stigma routinely experienced by members of the
LGBT community at other health centers.
“This
clinic will be a safe haven for homosexual and transgender people who continue
to experience difficulty getting access to treatment at general health care
facilities,” said Prof. Dewa Nyoman Wirawan, an adviser to the clinic.
He added
that although the provincial administration was making progress in ensuring
better access to health care for all by improving services at community health
centers, the reality was that the LGBT community was still being left out
because of widely held conservative views against them.
“That’s why
I proposed the idea of setting up a clinic that would serve members of this
marginalized community,” Wirawan said. “Fortunately, one of my colleagues, Dr.
Yogi Prasetia, has agreed to manage the clinic. Over time, we will continue to
provide the facility with more equipment than we currently have.”
Wirawan, a
senior faculty member at Udayana University’s School of Health, said that Yogi
had extensive experience in dealing with health issues among the LGBT community
in the resort island.
Among the
services available at the clinic will be general medical check-ups, screenings
for sexually transmitted diseases, and hormone-replacement therapy.
“We will
also provide counseling services, both general and mental,” Wirawan said. “In
the future, we plan to offer VCT [voluntary counseling and testing] services
for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as distribute ARVs [anti-retroviral
drugs].”
He added
that since the clinic’s unofficial opening, staff there had seen a steady stream
of patients.
The Gaya
Dewata Foundation, which provides counseling and promotes safe sex practices
among Bali’s gay community, has welcomed the establishment of the Bali Medika
Clinic.
“The gay
and transgender community here tends to be closed off and its members are
reluctant to let anyone find out about their sexual orientation, so they tend
to avoid seeking medical treatment when they fall ill,” said Christian
Supriyadinata, the foundation’s director.
He also
pointed out that existing community health centers were unlikely to offer some
of the treatments required by the transgender community, such as hormone
replacement therapy.
A doctor is
available from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to noon on
Saturdays.
Official
figures show that 160 people from Bali’s gay and transgender community have
contracted HIV as of September, while 39 have developed AIDS.
Nongovernmental
groups, however, suggest the real unreported figures could be much higher.
Antara
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