Netherlands offer RI medicines, food
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo offered yesterday to send food and medicine to alleviate the shortages facing many Indonesians in the current economic crisis.
"I think you are facing an urgent problem in medicines... and also food, because of the rise in the rice price," Mierlo said after meeting with President Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office.
Mierlo, who is also deputy prime minister, told Soeharto his government planned to establish a trade facility to guarantee Indonesian imports.
He did not say how much food and medicine his government would provide. He only said it would announce the details of its assistance to Indonesia soon.
The Netherlands' offer comes as the media is reporting that the economic crisis has caused price increases of up to 300 percent for patent medicines and 50 percent for generic drugs.
Health clinics have reportedly closed because they have no supplies and more and more people are becoming uncertain as to whether they will be able to find drugs and medical treatment at reasonable prices for much longer.
"This is a nightmare. I'm very upset about this situation. I pray that my family will not suffer any serious illness during the monetary crisis," said a working woman in Jakarta.
She also called on doctors not to raise their consultation fees as the rising drug prices were already burdening the public.
"We are running out of money. If doctors also raise their fees in this difficult situation, then they are really acting inhumanely," she said
An employee of the University of Indonesia, Tjiptaningsih Hadisuryo, agreed and said doctors should not take advantage of their patients.
"Many of the doctors are already rich. Our salaries are not going to be raised," said Tjipta.
The two working women called on the government to ensure adequate supplies of generic drugs in hospitals and drugstores at affordable prices.
The government announced Tuesday that it had allocated Rp 700 billion (US$100 million) this fiscal year to subsidize the soaring prices of imported drugs and vital medical equipment.
But drug prices continue to increase as manufacturers still have to import the ingredients. Some public hospitals and clinics reportedly can no longer afford to buy imported medical equipment.
The Kompas daily reported yesterday that half of the 123 medical clinics in Bekasi, West Java, were closing as they could not provide the public with treatment and medication.
The Bekasi General Hospital also had to raise treatment fees following the drug and medical supply price hikes.
Kiagoes, a physician from the Pondok Indah Hospital in South Jakarta, said that the hospital could not prevent doctors from raising their consultation fees.
"We have set the doctor's fees for the second class, the first class, VIP class and the VVIP class but we cannot fix the exact prices as doctors have autonomy (to decide their fees)," he told reporters yesterday.
Ascobat Gani, dean of the school of public health at the University of Indonesia said hospitals should cut costs and apply cost-effective policies by reducing, among other things, expansion plans and using conventional medical technology instead of modern methods which cost more but produce the same result. (09/prb)