Health office opens hotline for gripes about drugs, food

JAKARTA (JP): If you are from Jakarta and have problems with medicines and food, dial the Ministry of Health's hotline on 4263333 for assistance.

The ministry's hotline number will go into operation 24 hours a day from April 1, officials said yesterday.

Farid Anfasa Moeloek, the new Minister of Health, said that the hotline had been set up to collect feedback from the public about supervision of food and medicines in the capital.

"We will try to accommodate public complaints relating to food and drugs. We hope that information about the commodities will no longer flow solely from officials" he said.

He said that the hotline service, set up by the ministry and state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom, would be opened in other part of the country at a later date.

Establishment of the service comes at a time of public outcry over the sharply rising price of medicine.

The price of generic drugs has risen by 150 percent since the economic crisis began last July.

In response to public fears, the government has reduced the price of essential medicines by an average 34 percent.

Former minister of health Sujudi said last month that the government had provided subsidies worth US$116 million to help pharmaceutical firms import the raw materials required to manufacture generic drugs.

The need to import raw materials caused the vicious rise in prices. New subsidized supplies reportedly arrived last month.

The government introduced generic drugs in 1989. They have a cost advantage over patent drugs, the price of which has jumped by up to 300 percent since last July.

Moeloek yesterday said the government would cut the price of generic drugs by a further 20 percent from April 1.

He said the government guaranteed that clinics across Indonesia would have enough medical supplies this year.

"The government is trying hard to directly supply medicines to clinics across the country and make sure that the prices are reasonable," he said.

Prices, especially for basic commodities, are expected to rise again next month when the government removes subsidies on electricity and fuel prices. (09)