Govt to monitor foreign doctors

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Sujudi on Saturday came out in support of controlling the influx of foreign medical workers when global trade is liberalized in 2003.

He said that the government will prepare a set of regulations to make sure that only qualified medical doctors from other countries work in Indonesia.

"We can use technical barriers to reject unqualified foreign medical workers wanting to work here," Sujudi said after a seminar on medical services in Indonesia.

The technical barriers could take several forms, he said, citing as examples a requirement that foreign doctors agree to master the Indonesian language or abide by Indonesian medical law before they can practice here.

The seminar Medical Service in Indonesia, Now and in the Future was organized by the Indonesian Medical Association. It featured Ascobat Gani of the University of Indonesia's School of Community Health and K. Bertens of Atma Jaya Catholic University.

The call for the government to monitor foreign medical workers came from the association's chairman, Azrul Azwar.

According a 1980 decree issued by the ministry of health, no medical institution is allowed to use foreign medical personnel without the ministry's consent. The restriction applies to general practitioners, specialists, dentists, pharmacists and medical personnel.

Foreign doctors are only allowed to work in Indonesia as trainers, if no local doctors have their expertise or if they are willing to be posted to remote areas where no local doctors want to go.

Sujudi said when Indonesia opens the door to foreign doctors, local medical workers will have to improve their abilities in order to earn the public's trust and to not lose out to their foreign colleagues.

Indonesia will start seeing more liberal trade when the Association of South East Asian Nations, of which it is a member, implements the ASEAN Free Trade Area in the year 2003.

It is also a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which has agreed to liberalize trade among its member- countries by the year 2020 for developing countries and by 2010 for industrialized members.

Sujudi said that the private sector is beginning to dominate the medical services industry, as evidenced by the number private hospitals being established around the country.

"There's no need for the government to reject the private sector's intention to establish more hospitals because the government can't build the number of hospitals needed," he said.

Azrul said that proper staffing will also play an important in the setting-up of private hospitals.

"If all new private hospitals have sound manpower planning, such as training for their doctors and nurses, they won't have to hijack medical doctors or nurses from other hospitals," he said.

Sujudi supported Azrul's opinion. "New hospitals which don't have manpower planning will definitely try to hire qualified medical doctors from other hospitals to attract more patients," he said.

He added that the government has a policy which requires all hospital builders to clarify their manpower plans before they can receive operation permits.(31)