Corruption kills
Corruption reared its ugly head in Indonesia once again this week. And sadly, the reaction, both from the public and government, was one of indifference, even if it caused deaths.
The Indonesian Health Consumer Empowerment Foundation said in a report that up to half of all subsidized medicines, including donations from foreign governments intended for the poor, had found their way onto the black market, earning hefty profits, needless to say.
The consumer group based its claim on the large number of medicines, many of which still carried the official government label denoting their origins, found at major markets in the capital. The sites they surveyed included those well-known as black markets for pharmaceutical products, such as Pramuka, Glodok, Blok M, Senen, Kramat Jati, Benhil and Rawa Bening.
What really disturbs us the most is that the report came amid complaints from thousands of poor people about lack of access to inexpensive drugs to treat the various diseases in the aftermath of the major flood disaster in Jakarta. There have even been reports of deaths because patients, including children, were not treated promptly for lack of medicine.
If the report by the consumer agency is true -- 50 percent of all subsidized medicines seems a bit high, but then this is Indonesia, where anything is possible -- we can see a link between the shortage of medicines that many poor people are complaining about on the one hand, and the presence of many government-subsidized medicines on the black market on the other.
The report itself makes appalling reading, but the government's response -- or lack of it -- is deplorable. Such indifference to reports of embezzlement has become all too familiar in this country. When Minister of Health Sujudi was confronted with the issue during a legislative hearing, he was dismissive, promising that the matter would be investigated, and let the matter rest.
Unfortunately, if past official promises are anything to go by, usually that is exactly what will happen: The matter will be put to rest, there will not be any meaningful investigation and the practice will continue.
The response by the Jakarta Health Agency was typical. It concluded that the consumer group's report was unsubstantiated after checking on a list of medicines at a single community health center in the Tanah Abang district in Central Jakarta.
Surely, an allegation as serious as this, and with such dire consequences, deserves a thorough investigation? The least the government should do is to conduct random inspections of community health centers, and of the markets that reportedly sell these subsidized medicines.
Such indifference either suggests complacency, or worse, a cover-up attempt. What is certain is that the profiteers at the black markets could not have had access to the subsidized medicines without the help of insiders. How far or how high up, are the officials involved in this scam is for the authorities to discover. Being dismissive is not going to help. It is probably high time for the police to take over the investigation from the ministry.
Corruption, as we all know too well, is never a win-win game. One person's gain is almost always someone else's loss. In the case of the government-subsidized medicines, the profit raked in by the profiteers, including the officials involved, comes at the expense of poor people. Thousands of people have been deprived of access to inexpensive drugs precisely because of these corrupt practices.
Looking at the official and public indifference to the report, this country seems to have completely resigned itself to the widespread practice of corruption. Nearly four years have elapsed since Indonesia ushered in the reform era, in which the eradication of corruption was one of the main goals of reform; yet the country seems to have gone back to the old norms and practices.
The campaign against corruption, collusion and nepotism, referred to by the Indonesian acronym KKN, has remained but a chimera throughout all three administrations we have had since 1998. It is really amazing to note how we as a nation have quickly forgotten that it was KKN that brought this nation to its knees, and it is also the thing that is hampering the recovery process.
In China and Vietnam, two Asian countries that have had serious problems of corruption, they have begun executing corruptors for their misdeeds in order to deter others from doing the same. In this country, corruption continues unabated, even, as in the case of subsidized medicines, it kills people, either directly or indirectly. We can only wish that some day these corruptors will get a taste of their own medicine.