AIDS victims must not be forgotten

JAKARTA (JP): As the anti-AIDS campaign is escalating in Indonesia, there is one thing that the nation should not forget -- dealing with the victims of the fatal disease.

Nona Poeroe Utomo, the director of the Indonesian AIDS Foundation, said yesterday the AIDS victims and their families need plenty of counseling from experts to help them get through the difficult times.

Nona said that unfortunately counseling is not a popular profession among psychology graduates in Indonesia, who are opting for the better paying jobs companies are offering them as personnel managers and industrial psychology experts.

This means that the task of counseling in Indonesia has been undertaken largely by doctors. "But they don't make good counselors," said the psychologist, whose own private practice includes counseling seven HIV-infected patients.

But not all HIV positive people would be able to afford to pay the high price for psychological therapy.

Nona suggested the establishment of counseling agencies along the lines of the legal aid institutes that are mushrooming in Indonesia and are providing legal counsel to people who cannot afford the expensive fees of lawyers.

Counseling should become part of Indonesia's anti-AIDS campaign, she said. (emb)