Free treatment for victims of violence
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Farid A. Moeloek said here on Monday that hundreds of people injured in Friday's demonstrations would receive free medical treatment.
Farid said that about 400 victims being cared for in 20 state and private hospitals around the capital would not have to pay for their treatment.
Six students were killed on Friday when troops fired into a crowd of demonstrators near the Semanggi cloverleaf in South Jakarta and a high school student was killed in a clash at Slipi on Thursday. The 15 recorded fatalities also included a police officer and four unidentified volunteer security guards. Hundreds more were treated for serious and minor injuries.
Jakarta's health agency recorded the Nov. 12- Nov. 14 protests led to 448 victims of which 14 died, 195 were hospitalized and 239 were treated for minor injuries.
Many of the injured were treated for gunshot wounds and injuries consistent with severe beatings. Others were admitted to hospital after being hurt in road traffic accidents.
A five-year old was still in emergency care at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta after being shot while watching a clash between students and civilian security guards in East Jakarta on Friday.
Farid said the usual conditions for free medical treatment had been waived for the victims of the unrest.
"We will treat all the victims well," Farid said.
The government will pick up the tab for the treatment with the help of various groups, including pharmaceutical firms and the public, he said.
"We will give free medicine to the victims -- not only to those with gunshot wounds, but also to those who were injured in car accidents during the demonstrations," Farid said.
He was speaking after witnessing a joint declaration on better medical treatment made by the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) and the Association of Pharmacy Companies (GP Farmasi).
GP Farmasi was represented by its chairman, Anthony Ch. Sunarjo.
IDI chairman Merdias Almatsier said IDI also suggests that hospitals need not pay for doctors' fees but added it was up to hospitals' internal arrangements.
The declaration stressed the importance of increasing the range and availability of generic drugs and improving the distribution of medicine around the archipelago.
The two groups also called for better health services "on the principle of rationality and taking patients' financial circumstances into consideration."
Both the medical and pharmaceutical professions have taken a share of the blame for the high cost of health care in the country. The fall in value of the rupiah has forced up the price of brand name and generic drugs, many of which were considered expensive even before the monetary crisis began.
"Around 20 percent of the population are responsible for 80 percent of national expenditure on drugs," IDI chairman Merdias said in his address.
The joint pledge was issued as part of efforts to help people overcome problems coping with the cost of health care. Only a relatively small part of the country's population have access to health insurance.
Farid and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono visited victims of last week's unrest in Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and the Army hospital on Monday. (01)