Tsunami medical aid still in Medan hospital

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency in Medan found on Thursday that medical supplies meant for tsunami victims at Pirngadi Hospital, that came from a US nongovernmental group Project Hope, were partly being used to treat regular patients.

According to a member of the agency's audit team, Flora Sari Siregar, all of the medical supplies -- separated into nine groups, including antibiotics, antiseptics, analgesics as well as influenza and cough medicines -- could still be used as they would not expire until 2007.

She said the expensive medical supplies were of good quality, and included such antibiotics as Zithromax, Unasyn and Vibramycyn.

The agency has not yet completed counting the worth of medical supplies piling up at the hospital, which treated many tsunami victims coming from as far as Aceh after the disaster, but estimated the amount would reach billions of rupiah.

"Our audit shows that these expensive medicines are being used by the hospital's management not to treat tsunami victims but other patients at the hospital. So far we don't know whether the medical aid was being sold (by the hospital)," Flora told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

She said the audit, which started four days ago, was conducted following information from the public that there were medical supplies meant for tsunami victims at the hospital.

The hospital's secretary, Muhammad Norman, confirmed the presence of the supplies, saying that the hospital received them in the middle of this year from Project Hope.

He said that the hospital earlier turned down the medical assistance since it was no longer treating tsunami victims but then took it after Project Hope insisted.

"The medical supplies are still here with us but some can no longer be used since they have already expired," Norman said.

When asked whether the drugs were being used to treat regular patients, he confirmed this, but added that it was being specially used to treat poor patients.

"Some of the drugs have been used but we are giving them to poor patients for free. None of them are being sold," Norman said.

But he was not sure how many of the drugs had been used to treat poor patients. "I forget the amount but this can be checked," Norman said.