Chinese doctors to check Gus Dur's health
Chinese doctors to check Gus Dur's health
JAKARTA (JP): Three Chinese doctors will soon arrive in
Jakarta to check on the health of President Abdurrahman Wahid and
First Lady Sinta Nuriyah, aides said on Wednesday.
Citing a remark from presidential medical team chairman Umar
Wahid, who is also Abdurrahman's brother, the Presidential
Secretariat said the team of Chinese doctors would combine modern
and traditional methods of medical treatment.
"The Chinese medical experts will administer traditional
medical treatment to the Head of State," it said in a statement.
Their visit follows the medical inspection the President and
his wife underwent in Beijing earlier this month.
The medical team will comprise Tang You-Zhi, chairman of the
Chinese Society for the Integration of Traditional and Western
Medicine, Lu Li-Zhu and Qian Yi Xian.
"A combination of modern and traditional methods of medical
treatment has been practiced by Chinese doctors for many years,"
the statement quoted Umar as saying.
During their three-day state visit to China, the First Couple
went for a checkup at the Ophthalmological Hospital of the
Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Dec. 2.
"There is still hope for me to see again," Abdurrahman
pronounced after the checkup in Beijing.
The President also had a medical checkup at the Moran Eye
Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in November. Doctors concluded
the vision in his right eye had been reduced to 20 percent while
his left eye was permanently impaired, due to the combined
effects of diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes.
The American doctors recommended Abdurrahman return for
further observation and possible treatment in April.
The First Lady has been confined to a wheelchair since
becoming half-paralyzed following a traffic accident on a toll
road near Jakarta in early 1993.
Abdurrahman has said his health and that of his wife would not
prevent them from dedicating themselves to the nation. "Seeing or
not, walking or not, we are ready to serve the nation," he vowed
just a few days after his election as president on Oct. 20. (prb)