Hospitals urged to keep accepting AIDS patients<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Medical Association has urged
\nhospitals to keep their doors wide open to people with AIDS,
\nfollowing a report that one of the association's members was
\nasked to stop treating AIDS patients at a private hospital in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Association Chairman Azrul Azwar said on Saturday that the
\nmanagement of the private hospital in question had gone as far as
\nto bar the doctor from treating other patients at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Azrul said that all doctors have a duty to treat patients with
\nthe Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), as well as those
\nwho have contracted the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which
\nleads to AIDS.<\/p>\n
There should be no discrimination against AIDS patients on the
\npart of hospitals, he said, citing a government regulation which
\nrequires all hospitals to equip themselves with facilities for
\ntreating AIDS patients.<\/p>\n
Azrul made the statement during a press conference held to
\nannounce the association's plan to hold a seminar to provide
\ninformation about AIDS to its members.<\/p>\n
He said there was a need for a more professional relationship
\nbetween doctors and the managements of the hospitals in and for
\nwhom they practice.<\/p>\n
This is in the interests of doctors, he said, because only
\nthen can they carry out their social function of serving
\npatients, he said.<\/p>\n
Azrul said he had also asked colleagues at the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Law to draft agreements to regulate the
\nworking relationships between doctors and hospital managements.<\/p>\n
Samsuridjal, an association member who specializes in AIDS,
\nsaid that the likelihood of doctors or paramedics contracting the
\ndisease from infected patients was \"very small.\"<\/p>\n
\"The chances of a paramedic being accidentally stabbed by a
\nsyringe that has been used on a HIV-positive patient is only
\n5\/1000,\" he said.<\/p>\n
An AIDS scare, such as was seen in the United States and
\nEurope in the 1980s, is only now beginning to occur in Indonesia,
\nas public awareness of the growing number of people who have the
\ndisease or have tested HIV-positive increases.<\/p>\n
The number of people who have tested HIV-positive in Indonesia
\nremains less than 400. However, as Samsuridjal pointed out on
\nSaturday, the actual number is likely to be 100 times that
\nfigure, given that blood testing has been limited to date.<\/p>\n
Samsuridjal said that five AIDS patients in Indonesia died in
\nJuly.<\/p>\n
He said that, in his personal observation, the practice of
\nrejection of AIDS patients by hospitals is a rare occurrence in
\nIndonesia. He added that almost all Indonesian hospitals have
\ntreated AIDS patients.<\/p>\n
Regarding the upcoming seminar, Azrul said that it is chiefly
\nintended for general practitioners and is aimed helping them to
\nstay abreast of the latest developments in both the spread of
\nAIDS, treatments and prevention strategies.<\/p>\n
Citing a recent survey conducted by the School of Medicine of
\nthe University of Indonesia, Azrul conceded that many Indonesian
\ndoctors, particularly those posted in community health centers
\nacross the nation, do not know enough about AIDS.<\/p>\n
He said clinical approaches were appropriate in the case of
\npatients with a high risk of death, but added that, where
\nprevalence is high, there also needs to be a community approach
\nto the disease.<\/p>\n
\"But the best way of dealing with the problem is through
\ncounseling for the patient and his or her family,\" he said.(05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hospitals-urged-to-keep-accepting-aids-patients-1447893297",
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