AIDS victims must not be forgotten

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)