Farid, a surgeon who cares about HIV/AIDS

Farid, a surgeon who cares about HIV/AIDS

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fact that he has been involved in the campaign against
HIV/AIDS in the country for nearly four years, demonstrates Farid
Wadjdi Husain's commitment to fighting the epidemic here.

By his own account, he knew very little about the epidemic
until he worked for the office of the Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare.

Farid was a surgeon and lecturer at the Hasanuddin University
(Unhas) in Makassar, South Sulawesi until Dec. 21, 2001, when
then Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla --
now the vice president -- appointed him to a post within the
ministry.

In 2002, he was appointed deputy minister in charge of health
and environmental affairs -- a position that later made him the
secretary of the National AIDS Commission (KPA). Under the
Presidential Decree No. 36/1994, the deputy of health and
environmental affairs at the office of Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare ex-officio acts as the secretary of the AIDS
commission.

He says he is satisfied with what he accomplished over at the
commission.

"Thank God, the trust of foreign donors in our efforts to
fight the epidemic has grown stronger," he told The Jakarta Post
at his office in Central Jakarta, saying donations from overseas
had been increasing.

The first move taken by Farid after being appointed as the
secretary of the commission was to invite some prominent doctors,
including Nafsiah Mboy and Suharto, to join his team.

His experience as a doctor had taught him a precious lesson:
"Be meticulous".

As a doctor, he always seeks to listen to various complaints
from his patients and carefully analyze them before offering a
solution.

And, that is what he did at the KPA.

He invited colleagues to discuss and plan actions to develop
the agency.

Gradually, he learned that many people do not fully understand
the various aspects of HIV/AIDS.

While the HIV/AIDS activists often campaign for the use of
condoms to reduce the transmission of HIV, religious leaders
perceive it another way.

The religious leaders often see the campaign to give out more
condoms as a tacit way of condoning "sinful free sex".

Farid's response to that is, "condoms protect people from
AIDS, but do not protect them from sin."

He said many people still lack an understanding or have a
wrong the perception about HIV/AIDS. Once they understand the
issue, they will realize that there is no need to stigmatize or
discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS.

Born in Soppeng, South Sulawesi on March 9, 1950, Farid said
he was known as a naughty kid during childhood and adolescence.
Brawls during the period left him with scars, which remain
visible on his head today.

His toughness, though, apparently impressed Jusuf Kalla that
the latter called him up to work at the ministry.

Besides working for the ministry and the KPA, Farid is also an
executive member of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) and
the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) as well as one of the Indonesian
delegates in talks with the leaders of the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) in Finland recently.

His main task has been to build trust among the GAM leaders
toward the government of Indonesia. For that purpose, he spent
time together with the rebel leaders.

Dealing with conflicting areas is not a new thing for Farid.
In 2002, he was assigned to monitor the peace talks in Malino,
South Sulawesi, for the conflicting Muslim and Christian groups.

Farid was among the key figures that helped facilitate the
conflicting groups to come and to sit together for peace talks.

His staff members at the KPA office see Farid as a figure with
high discipline. He usually arrives at the office at 7 a.m.
sharp, an hour earlier than his staff members.

He said that his father was a man who taught him to always
give full commitment to any activity.

"I have been taught by my father to be fully committed to
whatever I'm involved in. Never waver, never be half-hearted," he
said.

His late father, Husain, was a teacher at an elementary school
in Makassar, and was awarded by the government for his
contribution to education development in 1974.

"I learned discipline and honesty from my father, while my
mother always prayed for my success," said Farid.

According to Farid, about 60 percent of public servants in
South Sulawesi were taught by his father in primary school. Some
of his former pupils became very successful, including military
expert Salim Said.

Farid has always made a point of sparing time for his family.
He used to drive his children to school in order to get a chance
to have heart-to-heart discussions with them.

However, his tight schedule has given him less time to mingle
with his family. He rarely swims or plays football these days,
which are just two of his hobbies. For physical exercise, he now
mostly walks around his housing complex for state officials in
Slipi, West Jakarta.

Married to a Javanese woman, Ratna Soedarman Farid, they have
four children. Fahriansjah Farid, 24, Fahrulsjah Farid, 23,
Fadliansjah Farid, 18, and Faradillah Farid, 16.

Despite his various activities, however, Farid still feels
that he has not given enough to the country.

"I will continue to work for the country. Time is not an
obstacle," he said.