Health tests and job requirements

Health tests and job requirements

In connection with the recent controversy over health
requirements for presidential candidates, which were seen by some
as a violation of human rights, allow me to recount my experience
half a century ago.

When I enrolled in the school of pharmacy, Gajah Mada
University, I was only subjected to physical and mental tests for
studying to become a pharmacist.

Later, as a diagnostic clinic assistant I found two students
who mostly failed in their lab test practice. They did well in
titration (solution concentration) tests involving a color change
from red to monochrome, but not in a change from blue to green.

As we shared the same dormitory, I knew how they described
gray and pink shirts as having the same color. When I examined
them with a test card, they turned out to be color-blind.

After I joined the Ministry of Health and was authorized to
issue pharmacist practice licenses, I introduced the requirement
that pharmacists must not be color-blind. Schools of pharmacy now
apply this requirement to their candidates.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO

Jakarta