Still not enough jobs for doctors: Sujudi
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)