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)