Ambitious health scheme for low-income bracket begun
Ambitious health scheme for low-income bracket begun
By Yoko N. Sari
BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Saturday, the government launched an
ambitious project to provide free medical service to the poor
which, if successful, will reach nearly 26 million people who
still live below the poverty line.
Minister of Health Sujudi gave out health cards to about 20
heads of family chosen from the Lebak and Bandung regencies
during a ceremony to mark the launching of the project at Soreang
village on Saturday.
The cardholders and their dependents are entitled to free
medical services and medicine from any community health centers
and government-owned hospitals.
A similar scheme to provide free health services to the poor
exists but it involves cumbersome and complex bureaucratic
procedures that virtually nobody has bothered to apply.
"The patients would have died by the time they received the
final approval," Sujudi said matter of factly about the present
scheme.
The project is being tried out in all 27 provinces throughout
Indonesia except for East Timor. Each province will select two
regencies or mayoralties for the purpose.
East Timor is exempted because the province has already
introduced a health insurance scheme for all the people in the
province.
If the pilot project proves successful, the medical card
scheme will be introduced in the 20,000 villages across the
nation which have been classified as needy starting next year.
"This program is intended to give poor people greater access
to health services which were out of there reach," Sujudi said.
Poverty
The program is tied to the government's drive to eradicate
poverty, he said. "With better health, these people will achieve
greater productivity and therefore improve their welfare."
The ceremony was attended by State Minister of Population and
chairman of the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Haryono
Suyono, and West Java Governor R. Nuriana.
During the ceremony, Haryono also presented Rp 1.8 billion
(US$850,000) to the West Java provincial government that would be
used as seed capital for medical and family planning personnel.
The money could be used to train midwives or nurses, or as
loans for midwives to open their own practices and buy equipment.
During the discussion with midwives, Sujudi rejected their
demands to be provided with motorbikes instead of bicycles.
Many midwives had complained that in the rough terrain where
they operate, they could not use the bicycles provided to them by
the government.
"It's impossible to ride my bicycle on hilly roads," said Eti
Rositawati, a midwife at Sekarjaya village, who was present at
the meeting.