Poor residents get free health service<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Hundreds of residents, including children, of Kebon Kosong and
\nGunung Sahari Selatan subdistricts, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta,
\nwere impatiently waiting their turn to get a free medical check
\nup and medicine.<\/p>\n
For the residents from the lower-income bracket, the service
\nprovided on Saturday by the Jakarta chapter of the Chinese-
\nIndonesian Association (INTI) at Mega Glodok shopping mall in
\nKemayoran could save them from otherwise expensive health
\nservices.<\/p>\n
Janariah, 35, brought her daughter, Erni, 15, who has a skin
\nallergic. According to Janariah, if the allergic recurs, it could
\nspread all over Erni's body.<\/p>\n
\"I brought her to a doctor once, but he suggested that we go
\nto a dermatologist. How can I afford a specialist? My husband is
\nonly a public minivan driver,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Working hand-in-hand with the developer of Mega Glodok mall,
\nINTI have engaged the services of 15 physicians led by Lie
\nDharmawan from Husada Hospital to serve the residents on a
\nregular basis, starting on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The head of the subdistrict administration will register the
\npatients and distribute a ticket to each of the residents
\nbeforehand.<\/p>\n
\"We have to bring the ticket along. My husband got it from our
\nsubdistrict chief yesterday, who told us to bring our sick
\ndaughter to get free medical treatment,\" said Ani, 35, who was
\ntrying to soothe her two-and-half-year old daughter Ines.<\/p>\n
Ani said Ines has had a fever for the last several days,
\nalthough the couple had brought her to a public health center.<\/p>\n
\"We could not afford to go to a doctor in a hospital because
\nmy husband only works as a technician in a repair shop.\"<\/p>\n
Karta Winata, president commissioner of Mega Glodok, who was
\nobserving the free health service, said the program is the first
\nstep toward helping the surrounding community.<\/p>\n
Didit A. Sunarko, a staff member of INTI who is responsible
\nfor carrying out the field survey before setting up the program,
\nsaid the program was also part of the contribution made by the
\nTionghoa, or Chinese-Indonesians in the country.<\/p>\n
\"We realized that merely changing our names from Chinese names
\nto Indonesian names would not close the gap between the Tionghoa
\npeople and indigenous Indonesians,\" added Didit.<\/p>\n
INTI itself was established in April 1999, after the tragic
\nriots in May 1998 of which many Chinese-Indonesians were victims.
\nINTI members are now engaged in the struggle to create a non-
\nviolent community to live in.<\/p>\n
\"We have to learn from the history,\" said INTI cofounder Benny
\nG. Setiono. \"We are trying to open ourselves more to the public
\nto let them know that we are also Indonesia nationals who are
\ntrying to give our contribution to this nation.\"<\/p>\n
The Saturday service opened with an explanation about floods,
\nand how to prevent them, the ailments that are usually caused by
\nfloods such as diarrhea, lung infections and malaria.<\/p>\n
According to Didit, INTI also has a mobile clinic that
\nprovides free health services for residents of rural areas, which
\nstarted operation in September.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poor-residents-get-free-health-service-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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