Australian media attack bali with stupid gossip as new

[RhysG]

This really get to me cuz i have tattoos all done in bali and so have most of my family and friends here and i have friend that are tatto artist roy being on of them.not once have i ever heard of this happen. The ABC is full of it it just an other way of try to black mail bali. what i would like to know who is this persone and what studio did they get there tattoo done in and if this person dose exist did he have unprotected sex at any time of hi trip in bali? Can the ABC answer these question and make it my clear to us because this just sound like gossip turned into new.

Scores of local tattoo artists disputed an Australia media report that likened being tattooed in Bali to unprotected sex.

The artists stated that a large majority of tattoo parlors in Bali had implemented modern safety precautions designed to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

“Tattoo parlors in Kuta are generally very professional, with sterilized equipment and always use fresh needles and ink for each new session,” I Wayan Wiraprastha, aka Lecir, marketing officer of Bali Tattoo Artists and owner of Erick Tattoo parlor, said.

In its Dec. 24 online edition, Australia’s ABC News ran a story titled “Getting tattoo in Bali like having unprotected sex”. The story said that on the previous day the West Australian Health Department said one of the state’s residents had contracted HIV after getting a tattoo in the Indonesian tourist hotspot.

The age and sex of the victim were not been released, nor has the location of the parlor where the tattoo was obtained.

It also revealed that the Commonwealth is expected to update health and traveler warnings following the incident, which is believed to be the first ever case of HIV being contracted by receiving a tattoo in Bali. Toward the end of the story, it cited the statement of West Australia health director of communicable disease control Paul Armstrong, who said “Anybody who has had a tattoo in Bali or a body piercing in Bali should consider the information that has come out and talk to their doctor about being tested for HIV.”

Lecir stressed that the tattoo artists in his parlor were very aware of the threat of possible infection through blood-borne diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

“That is why we have always sterilized our equipment. We have a medical-grade sterilizer in the studio. The tattoo artists always wear gloves when they do their work,” he said, adding that dangerous waste, including needles, was carefully collected before being sent to an incinerator at a local hospital.

Roy Parsua, a freelance tattoo artist with a large number of foreign clients, stated similar sentiments. He stressed that the business was very much dependent upon the quality of the artist’s work, as well as the safety the artist provided.

“I have always asked my clients to check my equipment and observe the sterilization process to make sure that the needles are fresh and still sealed in the packages,” he said.

I Gede Supala of the Bali Tattoo Artists Club confirmed that client safety had become the most important agenda for the artists.

“I think the members of the Club already understand the meaning of the ‘Keep Clean’ sticker plastered on their respective studios,” said the owner of the Legian-based Shotonk Tattoo.

He admitted that there were a small number of tattoo artists who had yet to implement the necessary safety equipment and procedures. Their number, however, has reportedly been dwindling.

The Bali Tattoo Artists Club, he said, would organize a gathering to develop their responses toward the media coverage.

“The gathering will likely produce a commitment to intensify training and workshops on health safety, as well as to draft a written standardized safety procedure that could be circulated to tattoo parlors on the island,” he said, adding that there were around 100 tattoo parlors in south Bali alone.

Provincial AIDS Mitigation Commission secretary I Made Suprapta reminded the media that a full investigation was required to identify the specific source of HIV infections.

“It is not an easy thing to determine the exact time a person became infected,” he said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Prof. Tuty Parwati, the physician who in 1987 diagnosed the first case of HIV in Indonesia.

“The risk of infection through tattoos is slim. In Bali, the infection risk is not from tattoos, but from sexual intercourse and needle sharing among drug users,” she said.
from Bali tattoo artists dispute media report | The Jakarta Post

[hermit]

IMHO it is very difficult to trace back the source of an infection like this,as also stated by the quoted doctors.
I have not seen the article or emission about this.Was there any solid proof of the tattoo parlour being the source of infection?
I guess it is easier to blame a tattooist than admit you were stupid enough to have unsafe sex,or that you have been gangbanged by a bunch of Bali cowboys.

[RhysG]

I guess it is easier to blame a tattooist than admit you were stupid enough to have unsafe sex,or that you have been gangbanged by a bunch of Bali cowboys.

my point exactly u said it all there

[gilbert de jong]

well...to be totally honest, I have seen some parlors in wich I would never get a tat (not even if they would pay me)
but these we're in low tourist density spots.

[mand2020]

I am curious as to what prompted the guy to go and have an AIDS test back in Australia in the first place??? And how on earth when it came up positive he attributed it to a tatoo he had got in Bali only weeks before???

[Rangi]

Its wrong how someone can try cripple an industry here in bali with no proof. Its obvious what happend. He had sex with a prostitute ands he to ashamed to admitt it. Hes Probably got a wife or Gf with kids or something like that. He should just man up and admitt it rather than try destroy the livleyhood of man bali locals . .