House moves to ensure health rights for children

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mega Susanti, a three-and-a-half year old girl, stares wide-eyed at the clown waving at her behind the entrance gate of Fantasy World in Ancol, North Jakarta.

"C'mon daddy, hurry up. I want to see Mr Clown," Mega tells her father. Her eyes are sparkling.

Impatient with her father's sluggishness, Mega grabs her father by his arm, dragging him to the park's gate.

"I've never seen her so excited. I always accompany her to get medical treatment and I know how pained her face can look. I believe today is her greatest day," Sutisna, 34, Mega's father says.

Mega, together with another 54 children with leukemia, was on an outing organized by the Indonesian Childhood Cancer Foundation (YOAI) last Saturday.

Diagnosed with leukemia, also known as blood cancer, at the tender age of 28 months, Mega has to cover her nose and mouth to prevent infection.

Mega is just one of thousands of children suffering from cancer in Indonesia.

According to statistics provided by the health ministry, up to 4,000 or 2 percent of the 200,000 new cancer cases every year involve children.

In Jakarta alone, at least 650 children with cancer are brought to state-run Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) yearly, but the hospital can only treat 115 children.

YOAI chairman Rahmi Adi Putra Tahir said that most children with cancer were from poor families who often could not afford to buy medicine.

"It is a child's fundamental right to receive medical care and health facilities regardless of whether they are rich or poor," she said.

YOAI, a non-profit foundation, has donated medicine to 75 children with cancer being treated at various hospitals, while Indonesian Cancer Foundation (YKI) finances their cancer treatment.

In a bid to improve medical services to children, the House of Representatives is currently deliberating a bill on child protection.

The bill, if endorsed, obliges parents and the government to support the health of children, and spells out punishments for those who fail to provide adequate medical services to children.

Indonesia ratified the United Nations Convention on Child Protection in 1990.

Rahmi said some children with cancer already received financial assistance from several donors but many more children suffering from other illnesses were still waiting for medical treatment.

The government, through its Social Net Safety (JPS) program, has paid for the treatment of children hospitalized with cancer in RSCM, Gatot Subroto hospital, Harapan Kita Hospital, and Fatmawati hospital.

Punishment for neglecting a child's health stipulated in the Child Protection bill:

1. Maximum 6.5 years in jail and a fine of Rp 4 million for neglecting a sick child and letting their condition worsen.

2. Maximum 5 years in jail and a fine of Rp 20 million for letting an injured child's condition deteriorate.

3. Maximum 15 years in jail and a fine of Rp 100 million (for letting a sick child die due to negligence)

4. Maximum 10 years in jail, fine Rp 300 million, and the withdrawal of licenses from medical officials who refuse to give medical care to children.