Indonesian medical association calls for a law on foreign doctors
Indonesian medical association calls for a law on foreign doctors
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Medical Association has called for regulations on foreign doctors working in the country after trade liberalization comes into effect in a few years.
The association's chairman, Azrul Azwar, said that once this liberalization happens, there is no way Indonesia can stop the influx of foreign workers, including medical doctors.
"The regulation should ensure that only highly qualified doctors practice in Indonesia," Azrul told The Jakarta Post this week.
Indonesia will start seeing more liberal trade when the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which it is a member, begins its ASEAN Free Trade Area scheme in the year 2003.
It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which has agreed to liberalize its trade as of the year 2020 for developing countries and 2010 for industrialized members.
Azrul said the proposed regulations should set a standard of qualifications for foreign doctors allowed to work in Indonesia. "Otherwise, Indonesia will be flooded with quacks who know nothing and only want to rake in money," he warned.
Under the existing law, foreign doctors are basically banned. They are allowed to work in Indonesia only as trainers or if no local doctors have their expertise or if they are willing to be posted to remote areas where no local doctors want to go.
Last year, Indonesian doctors protested against the government's decision to allow 12 expatriates to work as medical consultants at the Siloam Gleneagles, a joint-venture hospital, in Tangerang, West Java.
According to a 1980 Minister of Health Decree, no medical institution is allowed to use foreign medical personnel without the minister's consent.
The restriction applies to foreign general practitioners, specialists, dentist, pharmacist, and medical personnel.
Azrul suggested that the government make further regulations regarding technology transfer by foreign doctors.
"The government should clarify what it really expects from transfer of technology, its content, target and timeframe so that there won't be any more confusion," he said.
He also criticized local people's perception that foreign doctors are better than local ones. This belief, he said, is obvious from the increasing number of Indonesians seeking medical treatment overseas.
"Foreign is not necessarily better than local," he complained.
The Gleneagles Hospital Group of Singapore claims that Indonesian patients accounted for 30 percent of all patients treated in the neighboring country's hospitals last year.(31)