Hospitals asked to treat waste

Hospitals asked to treat waste

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja urged hospital
managements to take care the environment by, among other things,
processing hospital waste properly.

Polluted environment and improperly-treated waste could
contaminate the surrounding area which, could mean a big loss to
the residents living around the hospitals, the governor said.

Surjadi also asked the hospital managements to improve their
service to the public. "Do not just boast of the beautiful and
comfortable buildings," he said.

Hospitals are obliged to implement public services as
stipulated by the Minister of Health's No. 378/1993. "Hospitals
are obliged to treat poor patients, and may not ask for
downpayment for emergency patients," he was quoted by Antara as
saying.

The governor did not mention what sanctions would be taken
against hospitals which refuse patients who cannot afford the
admission fees.

There have been incidents when patients' relatives waste time
seeking generous hospitals, and in some cases the patients have
died on the way.

Jakarta now has 98 hospitals, 64 state-owned public hospitals
and 34 private hospitals. The ratio between the number of bed and
the population is 1:645.

Private sector's participation in building hospitals in the
city deserves appreciation. "But private hospitals must not
forget their social duty," he said.

Speaking of the improvement of people's health, Surjadi said
that life expectation of Jakartans is now 69 years, while it was
56 in 1971.

Baby mortality rates have also dropped. In 1971, 122 out of
one thousand babies died at birth. Now the number has dropped to
31.8.

The mortality rate for women giving birth has also dropped
from 4.5 per thousand in 1971 to 1.06, he said.

Latest records indicate that the number of patients treated in
hospitals in Jakarta is still high, 21.74 percent of the
population per month,

The number of patients suffering from heart attack, cancer,
and mental disorders is still high. (bsr)