Jakarta hospitals open doors to Aceh's child victims

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta hospitals are offering free medical treatment for Acehnese children wounded in the catastrophic tsunami that swept through the troubled province on Dec. 26.

Eva Jumpa of Harapan Kita Hospital said on Tuesday that the hospital was currently treating four Acehnese children and babies, and that one toddler died upon arrival at the hospital on Sunday.

"We don't charge them at all as this is a rescue program by the hospital to save Acehnese children and babies. We just lost a one-and-a-half-year-old child identified as Karma Suhada, while one baby is still in critical condition," Eva told The Jakarta Post.

She said several other hospitals in Jakarta, including MMC and Pondok Indah hospitals in South Jakarta, the Budiasih and Jakarta Islamic hospitals in East Jakarta were currently taking care of several Acehnese babies and children.

The Acehnese children are mostly being treated for respiratory problems after swallowing dirty water during the tsunami.

A nurse at Budiasih Hospital, Wati, said the hospital was trying to cure a three-month-old baby with a respiratory problem.

"Currently, we are taking care of only one baby, identified as Heska. I heard we're treating the baby for free. We are expecting several more Acehnese soon," Wati told the Post.

Lili Hasanuddin of the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations for Tsunami Victims, which brought the children to Jakarta, said the coalition of over 10 NGOs had cooperated with the Association of Private Jakarta Hospitals, doctors and Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital to give babies and children from Aceh free medical treatment.

"We are prioritizing saving sick babies and children, not healthy ones, because many Acehnese babies and children who survived the tsunami swallowed dirty water. Most of them have fluid in the lungs," Lili told the Post.

He complained that the government had been too slow in taking action as the children had been sick since after the tsunami, which occurred over a week ago.

Lili added that the coalition met with the minister of health recently to discuss how they could save as many Acehnese children as possible.

"The minister said there would be a national program to save Acehnese children. However, no action has been taken to date. So we initiated this program, but we have only been able to save a few," he said.

He added that hundreds of Acehnese children were ill because of the tsunami.

"Our members in Aceh said they found around 200 sick children and babies in just one refuge camp. In fact, there many such camps there," said Lili.

He added that the only way to save Aceh's young tsunami victims was to evacuate them to Jakarta because many doctors who had been sent there complained of inadequate equipment and medicine to treat the children.