Still not enough jobs for doctors: Sujudi

JAKARTA (JP): Many doctors remain unemployed because the government can not create adequate jobs, Minister of Health Sujudi says.

Speaking about preparations for the commemoration of the 32th National Health Day on Nov. 12 yesterday, Sujudi promised his office would seek solutions to the problem.

"I'll personally see to it that we won't have any more unemployed doctors in the country," he said. He did not say by when. Sujudi was appointed minister in 1993 and his office ends in 1998.

Statistics show that of the annual 2,000 medical school graduates, only 15 percent find immediate employment with the government. The rest must seek employment in private medical establishments which also cannot accommodate them all.

On Wednesday, chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association Azrul Azwar said there were "thousands" of doctors still unemployed after they completed their compulsory three-year practice at the government-appointed places.

It takes a person at least nine years to become a general practitioner, six of which are spent in school and another three in mandatory practice.

Sujudi suggested that those doctors open their own practices, or work for private clinics or hospitals.

The government previously guaranteed that 90 percent of all doctors who completed the mandatory three-year service in six particular provinces would be accepted as government employees if they agreed to return to the locations of their first assignment.

The six provinces are Central Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, Irian Jaya, Maluku and Southeast Sulawesi; all known for difficult terrain, lack of facilities and limited transportation.

The government also guaranteed employment to 50 percent of the doctors from remote locations outside of the six provinces and 75 percent from more remote places outside the six provinces if they returned to their assignment sites.

Many doctors were reportedly reluctant to return to the difficult areas after their three-year service was up.

In yesterday's meeting, Sujudi said the many health problems facing the country included the high fatality rate of dengue fever patients, the high rate of diarrhea, malnutrition, low iodine levels, and poor environmental hygiene.

He pointed out how poor hygiene causes many health disasters relating to dengue fever and diarrhea in many parts of the country.

Six out of every 100,000 people contracted dengue in 1989. The number increased to 10 out of 100,000 in 1994, he said.

Dengue fever, which occurred in 163 regencies in 1989, hit 217 regencies in 1994.

Diarrhea epidemics hit 118 regencies in 24 provinces in 1994, affecting 40,369 people and killing 688. (ste)