Mobile clinic serves poor in Yogyakarta province
Mobile clinic serves poor in Yogyakarta province
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
"Bedes, come here quickly. What are you afraid of. How come a
street kid like you is afraid of a little needle? If you aren't
scared of being beaten by city public order officers, how come
you are afraid of the doctor?" a street kid said to his friend,
Bedes.
Bedes, who would be in sixth grade if he attended elementary
school, then entered the tent and sat on a plastic chair beside
the young doctor.
"Wow, I'm a star. A star who's poor," exclaimed Bedes when he
saw the TV cameras focused on him.
The mobile clinic, the first of its kind to provide free basic
medical care to poor residents of Yogyakarta, was operating on
Jl. Urip Sumaharjo last week.
"There are around 2,000 street children who are susceptible to
dental, oral and other diseases in Yogyakarta. Only one hospital
in the city is willing to treat them. So, with the setting up of
the mobile clinic, street children will be able to access free
medical treatment," said dentist Mochammad Agus Ramli, the
director of the Gaia Foundation, which is responsible for
pioneering the mobile clinic program.
He said the foundation was working together with the Humana
Foundation, the Yogyakarta Friendship Clinic (KKY) and the
British Embassy in providing the mobile clinic.
The vehicle used is a Land Rover equipped with medical
equipment and supplies. It is painted bright red, with the words
Mobil Klinik written on the windshield. It is equipped with a
large tent.
What makes the blue tent particularly interesting is that it
is decorated by paintings by famous Yogyakarta painter Popok Tri
Wahyudi, a former member of the Apotik Komik Yogyakarta
(Yogyakarta Comic Pharmacy).
The mobile clinic operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Saturdays in five places that are easily accessed by people
forced to live on the streets, such as the north ringroad, the
Gramedia and the IAIN campus intersections, and Lempuyangan
railway station.
The medical workers consist of students, health professionals
and other volunteers.
The mobile clinic only provides basic medical treatment and
patients in need of further treatment are referred to the Panti
Rapih Hospital, which has always been prepared to provide medical
treatment to street children.
"But we have not given up on the possibility of collaborating
with state hospitals. We are currently working on this," said
Agus Ramli.
According to Agus, most street children and poor people in
Yogyakarta suffer from upper respiratory tract infections and
skin ailments.
There are also some suffering from sexually transmitted
diseases, he said. Only two persons were found to have contracted
HIV/AIDS, with one of them dying in June and the other in July.
Lila Dwilita Sari, a small grants scheme officer with the
British Embassy, said the mobile clinic program was very
interesting and was best suited to big cities that were home to
many street children.
"It's probably the only one of its kind in Yogyakarta. There
are other kinds of mobile clinics in other places, like the
"Floating Nurse" in Kalimantan, but it's not specifically
intended for street children like this one," she said.
The British Embassy has provided funding for the clinic so
that it can supply medicines and pay staff. The aid program will
last for two years, and may be extended as required.