Health care vital for MPR members
By Emmy Fitri
JAKARTA (JP): Nothing is more important for a politician than to receive a literal and figurative clean bill of health if he or she wants to forge a brilliant career.
To take into account this need, the Secretariat General of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has set up five makeshift clinics in the MPR compound, and assigned doctors and paramedics to stand by around-the-clock to provide medical services.
"Of course, we're worried about the health of House and Assembly members who have to attend daily meetings with a much heavier workload and pressure compared to last year's session," the head of the Assembly's health unit Moch. Arifin Achmad told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
Arifin said House of Representatives (DPR) and Assembly members -- who have convened since Oct. 1 and will continue to deliberate policy matters and the elections of the president and vice president until Oct. 21 -- must be able to receive proper medical attention in order to stay in good health.
For this year's session, the newly elected 700 members of the House and the Assembly must attend working sessions continuously. An earlier schedule provided the legislators with a 10-day rest period between the sessions.
Arifin's medical concerns are not unfounded. On the first day of the Assembly session, a 43-year-old on duty police officer died from a heart attack in one of the makeshift clinics.
"The incident could happen to anyone," said Arifin, who has worked at the unit for almost 29 years.
Of the five temporary clinics, three are operating, while the two others will be operational on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. On those dates MPR members will elect the country's president and vice president, a first in the country's 54 years of independence.
The clinics are well signposted. Each of them is equipped with a bed and ample medicinal supplies. The medical staff have been told to be on standby from the time the legislators start their deliberations until they leave the MPR building.
In the case of an emergency, the secretariat is also providing three ambulances to transport MPR/DPR members to the private Pelni General Hospital or the Harapan Kita Cardiac Center.
"So far we only find exhaustion and lack of sleep among the Assembly members," said Arifin, who practices as a nutritionist.
He said similar clinics had also been set up at the Sahid Jaya Hotel and Hotel Indonesia and were following the MPR members when they moved to the Jakarta International Hilton Hotel and the Mulia Senayan Hotel.
The MPR secretariat has assigned 67 health unit officials to care for the nation's legislators. The team comprises 12 cardiologists, six anesthetists, 21 general practitioners and 28 paramedics.
"During the session, the MPR secretary-general has officially announced that no holidays will be given except to pregnant staff," Arifin said.
Health officials have complained that they possess scant information about the health records of most MPR members.
"We even don't know the name and biographical data of all the members. All we know is that the youngest is 30 years old and the oldest is 78," Arifin said
The organizers of the current Assembly session did not request the incumbent members undergo medical checkups prior to the session due to time constraints. At previous Assemblies, a medical checkup for members was mandatory.
"For the previous House and Assemblies, we had complete data on members latest health condition days before the sessions began," Arifin said.
He said that as soon as the Assembly and House members ended the ongoing session, he planned to request all members undergo a thorough medical checkup.
"This session is just the beginning for the newly elected members. They still have to work for the next five years in insyaallah (God willing) the best state of health," Arifin said.