Officials reluctant to probe drug case<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
City health officials seemed reluctant to launch an
\ninvestigation in the face of allegations that subsidized and
\ndonated medicines are finding their way onto the black market
\nacross the capital.<\/p>\n
City Health Agency spokeswoman Evy Zelfino said that health
\nofficials had already dispatched a team to look into the charges.<\/p>\n
\"Our inquiry has found no violations -- either in any public
\nhealth centers, or pharmaceutical storage facilities here,\" she
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
So far, however, the agency has only inspected one public
\nhealth center in Tanah Abang, along with a Central Jakarta
\npharmaceutical storage facility.<\/p>\n
Therefore, it has yet to investigate the other 279 health
\ncenters and five pharmaceutical storage sites across the city.<\/p>\n
\"We had examined monthly reports in the Tanah Abang health
\ncenter, and in the Central Jakarta pharmaceutical storage
\nfacility -- we had also seen a medicine supply there,\" Evy said.<\/p>\n
In regulating the distribution of medicine around the city,
\nthe agency relies only on the reports, which outline rules about
\nthe transfer of medicines between health posts and pharmaceutical
\nstorage.<\/p>\n
The health agency is responsible for the distribution of the
\nmedicines as an arm of the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
The medicines are first sent to a provincial pharmaceutical
\nwarehouse for storage, before being delivered to the five
\npharmaceutical storage sites in each of the five mayoralties
\nhere. Finally, from there the medicines are sent to all public
\nhealth centers across Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Each public health center can order a different amount of
\nmedicine each month, depending on its needs.<\/p>\n
When asked about the possible manipulation of the reports, Evy
\nsaid, \"It might have been done by individuals. Who can guarantee
\nthe truth of the report? But we haven't talked about it any
\nfurther.\"<\/p>\n
She insisted that there was no manipulation of the subsidized
\nand donated medicines here, particularly those for flood victims.<\/p>\n
However, Evy confirmed that some of the medicines found by the
\nIndonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation had been
\nsubsidized, when they should have been available only in public
\nhealth centers.<\/p>\n
\"We did visit the foundation and saw some subsidized and
\ndonated medicine, but we didn't know how it happened,\" she said,
\nsuggesting that it might have been connected to a theft from a
\npharmaceutical warehouse in Sukabumi, West Java.<\/p>\n
The foundation revealed on Monday its survey findings that
\nhalf of the subsidized and donated medicine for low-income people
\nwas sold on the black market here.<\/p>\n
The survey also found that several public health centers had
\ncharged their patients more than the official fee of Rp 2,000 for
\nboth medicine and medical treatment per each visit as a result of
\nthe overall increase in medicine prices.<\/p>\n
City Bylaws No. 3\/1999 and No. 9\/2000 on tariffs stipulate
\nthat no patient at a health center must pay more than Rp 2,000
\nfor basic medical treatment, including medicine. The tariff is
\nvalid for medical treatment in the morning.<\/p>\n
Afternoon patients must pay no more than Rp 5,000.<\/p>\n
Evy confirmed that the bylaw is presently valid. When the Post
\nasked her about the violation of the tariff, she replied,\"I don't
\nknow about that -- we have not yet received the information,\"
\nrefusing to comment further.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/officials-reluctant-to-probe-drug-case-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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