(CNN) A crackdown against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Indonesia is leading to a rise in HIV infections and causing a public health crisis, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.

The report documents how attacks, raids and an attitude of open hostility towards LGBT groups by Indonesian authorities and Islamist militant groups has derailed public health efforts to prevent and curb HIV.

"LGBT people's access to condoms, to counseling and to HIV education is disappearing. It's becoming more and more difficult for HIV education groups to access these communities. The situation is alarming and rates of HIV infections are increasing in Indonesia," said Andreas Harsono, a researcher at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report.

Beginning in 2016, Indonesian authorities -- including politicians and other governmental officials -- began publicly attacking LGBT groups, creating a "moral panic" which then spilled into the wider Indonesian society, according to the report, which was published on Sunday.

"It began with a moral panic: that homosexuality was contagious, that it might affect children, that it is more dangerous than nuclear war," said Harsono.

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