On AIDS awareness at a price

In response to the letter from Dr. Walbran from Gandhi Memorial International School (April 26, 1997) titled AIDS awareness for students at a price, we would like to clarify as follows:

The University of Indonesia's School of Medicine's Pokdisus AIDS Center (located at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital) is actively implementing three programs, i.e. research (basic science, clinical, and behavior); education; and public services, mainly in the care of AIDS patients.

We are also active in "preparing" hospitals to admit AIDS patients and helping other groups in setting up counseling services by organizing training sessions.

The programs are funded solely by the Pokdisus AIDS Center, with the unavoidable consequence that a fee was asked to cover the costs of the three-hour sessions. However, we apologize for the miscommunication and the "exorbitant" fee of Rp 350,000 Gandhi Memorial International School was charged. Had we known of the difficulty, we actually have educational sessions given free of charge for those in the community who cannot afford to pay.

I hope the incident has not deterred Gandhi Memorial International School from seeking the much-needed AIDS information for its students, and we extend an invitation to attend our educational sessions free of charge.

PROF. DR. A. HARRYANTO REKSODIPUTRO

Chairman of Pokdisus AIDS FKUI

Jakarta