Jamsostek offers free medical help to the poor

JAKARTA (JP): Life is hard for Syahlani. Soon after his dismissal as a driver of state-owned transportation company PT Damri in July, he opened a food stall near his house.

He earns between Rp 10,000 (US$1.33) and Rp 20,000 daily but his income is too low to meet his family's needs.

The family lives in a slum area in Pulogadung subdistrict, East Jakarta. Two of his eight children have graduated from high school but are jobless. His youngest son is a fifth grader in a state elementary school.

Three of his daughters have been forced to drop out of junior high school because there is not enough money to pay for their education.

Needless to say, expensive treatment of the huge tumor on his back and cataracts blinding his youngest daughter Fitri, 6, is not a possibility.

Syahlani, 48, who hails from Brebes in Central Java, said it would be pointless to visit a physician about the tumor, which weighs about two kilograms, covers part of his spine and which he has had for 16 years.

"How can I visit a doctor or go to a hospital to have my illness treated if my daily income from my food stall is not enough to cover our daily needs?"

He said he felt even worse that he could not seek medical help for Fitri, who has been blind since the age of three.

"How can I bring my youngest daughter to hospital for cataract surgery when I do not have a single cent in my pocket?"

Ratmi, Syahlani's wife, said the family would welcome any humanitarian assistance to treat their illnesses. She said she had tried to secure treatment but without success.

"I contacted several clinics and a hospital in the city, but they couldn't help us for financial reasons."

The 40-year-old added that there were no relatives who could lend a helping hand.

But help did come in the person of Abdul Gofur, a neighborhood community chief, who arranged for Syahlani and Fitri to receive free medical consultations provided in a nearby area on Wednesday by state-owned social security firm PT Jamsostek.

After being examined by a physician, Syahlani and Fitri were advised to seek further treatment at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, with expenses to be picked up by Jamsostek and the Pulogadung public health center.

Chief of Jamsostek's service division Aufa Azis said his firm did not object to helping Syahlani's family. He said Jamsostek was seeking others with chronic health problems who could not afford treatment.

"We will cooperate with state hospitals in the capital to help citizens with such cases."

Syahlani and Fitri were two of about 1,000 low-income people targeted in Jamsostek's day-long medical treatment program in the slum area.

Complaints ranged from simple cuts and headaches to serious conditions.

A physician who requested anonymity said all the people treated were pale and malnourished.

"This condition definitely has something to do with the economic crisis," the physician said.

Indra Atari, chief of Jamsostek's Jakarta branch, said that his company would provide free medical services every week over the next two consecutive months to slum residents in conjunction with the company's golden anniversary in December.

"We have allocated about Rp 20 million each week, and most of the fund is used to pay medical personnel and buy generic drugs to be distributed to the needy." (rms)