Free treatment for victims of violence

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)