Health care vital for MPR members

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.