AIDS victims must not be forgotten<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As the anti-AIDS campaign is escalating in
\nIndonesia, there is one thing that the nation should not forget
\n-- dealing with the victims of the fatal disease.<\/p>\n
Nona Poeroe Utomo, the director of the Indonesian AIDS
\nFoundation, said yesterday the AIDS victims and their families
\nneed plenty of counseling from experts to help them get through
\nthe difficult times.<\/p>\n
Nona said that unfortunately counseling is not a popular
\nprofession among psychology graduates in Indonesia, who are
\nopting for the better paying jobs companies are offering them as
\npersonnel managers and industrial psychology experts.<\/p>\n
This means that the task of counseling in Indonesia has been
\nundertaken largely by doctors. \"But they don't make good
\ncounselors,\" said the psychologist, whose own private practice
\nincludes counseling seven HIV-infected patients.<\/p>\n
But not all HIV positive people would be able to afford to pay
\nthe high price for psychological therapy.<\/p>\n
Nona suggested the establishment of counseling agencies along
\nthe lines of the legal aid institutes that are mushrooming in
\nIndonesia and are providing legal counsel to people who cannot
\nafford the expensive fees of lawyers.<\/p>\n
Counseling should become part of Indonesia's anti-AIDS
\ncampaign, she said. (emb)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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