Devoted doctors

Devoted doctors

There is little doubt that some doctors in big cities in
Indonesia are as concerned with wealth as much as health. But to
say that many of them are nothing but hypocrites (Many doctors
suffer from hypocrisy, The Jakarta Post, Sept. 14, 1997) is in my
view hardly justified.

From what I see and read, most of the doctors in Indonesia
are concerned and caring, but overwhelmed and underpaid. A large
proportion of the 35,000 doctors in Indonesia are working in
conditions that few of us can imagine. There is a young lady
doctor in Merauke (why are so many of the really devoted ones
women?) covering a huge area of the country. She is grappling
with major health and social challenges, including AIDS. Medical
supplies are always limited. Support from the local population
and authorities cannot always be taken for granted. And yet she
prefers to stay there, rather than return to an easier life in
Java.

Not that doctors in Java have it all easy. There are doctors
here in Jakarta who devote their lives to people with AIDS. They
make house calls without asking for payment. And they spend their
spare time working on a variety of causes to improve the lot of
those with AIDS. They are not alone: others devote their lives to
people with other afflictions.

Is it unfair that those who can afford it get better medical
treatment? Probably. But what are we who are well off doing
about it? Perhaps we are just as hypocritical if we expect more
of doctors than we are willing to give. The amazing thing is the
number of doctors who do give, and give up, so much.

CHRIS W. GREEN

Jakarta