Samsuridjal gives all to fight HIV<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
When a group of health workers and community leaders leisurely
\nchatted with an HIV positive woman on her veranda, residents in a
\nvillage in Indramayu regency, West Java were startled.<\/p>\n
They were even more surprised watching a doctor eat snacks
\noffered by the woman. The residents were afraid the doctor would
\nbe infected by the virus.<\/p>\n
The doctor is Samsuridjal Djauzi, who set up Pelita Ilmu
\nFoundation (YPI) -- an organization which campaigns against the
\nspread of HIV, with his colleagues in 1989, at a time when not
\nmany people were aware or well-informed about the disease.<\/p>\n
The 58-year-old internist said many people in the village knew
\nthe woman was HIV positive since it was hard to keep a secret
\nthere.<\/p>\n
\"We need to set an example to the public that HIV is not
\ncontagious through a handshake or food. With proper information,
\nI believe people, especially those living in villages, will not
\nfear, stigmatize or discriminate against people with HIV\/AIDS,\"
\nsaid the director of Dharmais National Cancer Center of the 1997
\nvisit.<\/p>\n
And the effort was not fruitless. He said that a year after
\nthe team visited the woman, the villagers dared to bring their
\nchildren to attend a birthday party of the woman's daughter.<\/p>\n
In Indramayu regency, as well as in Karawang regency, West
\nJava, Samsuridjal installed YPI's activists there after finding
\nout that most of the HIV positive sex workers who were cast out
\nof Batam in Riau, were from both regencies. In their jobs, those
\nactivists work alongside community health center's health workers
\nin the area to educate villagers about HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
In its line of work, the foundation did not only receive
\npraise, but also criticism, some saying that its campaigns focus
\nmore on teenagers than sex workers.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, teenagers are a high-risk group since they are
\nsexually active. Besides, they still have plenty of time to
\nprevent themselves from being infected by the virus,\" said the
\nman who got his doctorate degree from the University of Indonesia
\nin 2001.<\/p>\n
Born in Bukittingi, West Sumatra in May 1945, Samsuridjal grew
\nup with his two siblings in Kampung Bali, Tanah Abang area in
\nCentral Jakarta from the age of 10. His father, once a teacher in
\nWest Sumatra, became a textile trader in Jakarta while his mother
\nremained a housewife.<\/p>\n
His regular job was helping his mother shop at the market in
\nthe morning and then assisting his father in the store, until he
\nwas in his fourth year at university.<\/p>\n
As a child, Samsuridjal loved to read and had read the works
\nof Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore, Hemingway, Nehru, Maxim Gorki,
\nAbdul Muis, Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, Selasih, Hamka, Pramudya
\nAnanta Toer, and Nur Sutan Iskandar, all when he was still in
\nelementary school.<\/p>\n
\"At first, the librarian did not allow me to borrow those
\nbooks because I was too young to understand. But I was persistent
\nsince I had finished all the children's books,\" he recalled.<\/p>\n
In his adolescent years, Samsuridjal was active in several
\norganizations like the Islamic Students Association (HMI). At the
\ntime when he chaired HMI, he was 20 years old, and was often
\ninterrogated by the police suspicious that the organization's
\nactivities were backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).<\/p>\n
\"It's my family, books and organizational activities that make
\nme always side with those who are marginalized because I've been
\nthere myself, feeling hungry because we did not have food, or did
\nnot have money to buy shoes. But being poor did not stop me from
\nachieving my goals,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Samsuridjal graduated in 1969 from the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Medicine and furthered his studies in
\ninternal medicine. In 1973 he was awarded a scholarship to study
\ntropical medicine and hygiene at Mahidol University, Bangkok,
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
\"I sent half of my US$200 allowance to my wife and son back
\nhome. I passed those hard times though I lost weight
\ndrastically,\" said the man, who got married in 1970. His second
\nchild, a daughter, was born when he was still studying in
\nBangkok.<\/p>\n
Back home, in 1976, he was assigned by the Ministry of Health
\nto Samarinda General Hospital in East Kalimantan. At that time,
\nhe was the only specialist in the province and was elected as the
\nchairman of Samarinda chapter of the Indonesian Doctors
\nAssociation (IDI).<\/p>\n
\"Maybe the life in Samarinda had inspired my children to
\nbecome doctors. I always took them to visit patients in remote
\nareas by speedboat but I never tried to influence them to choose
\na particular occupation,\" said the father of two, both doctors.<\/p>\n
And it was his concern over the rapid spread of HIV in the
\ncountry that made Samsuridjal dedicate himself to campaign
\nagainst the deadly virus.<\/p>\n
In 1996, while visiting Merauke regency in Papua, he brought
\nalong with him pictures of people displaying HIV\/AIDS symptoms
\nand showed them to local community leaders. After looking at the
\nphotos, the leaders said some residents in their villages had
\nshowed similar symptoms.<\/p>\n
\"Within two hours, we found six people with HIV\/AIDS symptoms.
\nSome of them had even developed severe symptoms like diarrhea,
\nmouth sores with fungal growth and were emaciated. There, we were
\ntouched watching a man who was taking care of his ailing 20-year-
\nold nephew using a plastic bag to cover his hands,\" recalled
\nSamsuridjal, who also set up a community-based drug
\nrehabilitation program in Kampung Bali, Central Jakarta in
\ncooperation with the local community health center there.<\/p>\n
His work has not always run smoothly. In 1995, he was barred
\nfrom treating patients in an exclusive hospital in Jakarta for
\nhelping HIV positive people. Instead of suing the hospital, the
\nchairman of the Indonesian Internists Association trained the
\nhospital's nurses and management in dealing with people with
\nHIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
The fact that HIV\/AIDS cases continued to rise moved
\nSamsuridjal and his colleagues to expand their work, by providing
\ndrugs for HIV\/AIDS patients. After collecting some money to
\nimport generic Antiretroviral drugs from India and Thailand, they
\n-- through the working groups on HIV\/AIDS of the University of
\nIndonesia, distributed the drugs to those in need.<\/p>\n
However, demand has exceeded the supply.<\/p>\n
At present, there are 350 people with HIV in the country who
\nhave access to the generic life-saving drugs while some 85,000
\nothers cannot afford the treatment. The rest are still on the
\nwaiting list to get the cheap drugs.<\/p>\n
\"I wish the country could produce its own Antiretroviral drugs
\nthat are affordable and accessible for HIV positive people,
\nespecially the poor.\"<\/p>",
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