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