Vaccine officials escape action over baby's death

JAKARTA (JP): The parents of the baby girl who died after a polio vaccine on Tuesday could have sued officials for negligence, a noted lawyer said yesterday.

Amir Syamsuddin said the officials in charge of the immunization post "violated the family's right to information" as they only focused on the administration of the vaccine while the baby was already very sick.

Maryati, the 14-month-old girl, died shortly after receiving polio vaccine drops at the post in the Palasari village in the Legok district, Tangerang, West Java. The deceased had been taken to the post by her grandmother.

The deceased's father, Hosen, a motorcycle-taxi driver and father of eight, signed a formal statement from the village head's office saying he would not sue for damages, and that his daughters' death was not related to the polio vaccine.

The victim's grandmother had told the officials that Maryati had been diagnosed as suffering from typhoid, and that she had a fever.

Maryati had been treated at home as her parents could not afford hospital treatment.

The people at the post said the vaccine was harmless even to sick children and administered the vaccine to the baby.

The former head of the Indonesian Medical Association, Kartono Mohamad, earlier said the vaccine is safe, but the post officials should at least have informed the grandmother to immediately take the child to a doctor.

Lawyer Amir said that if officials at the post were not medical professionals, but laypersons recruited for the nationwide drive like millions of others, it may be difficult to pin responsibility on them.

Lesson

As the anti-polio drive is focused on quotas, Amir said Maryati's death should serve as a lesson for more professionalism of the national committee of polio immunization week.

"Although this is only one case in an important cause, higher standards of precaution against risks should be expected of the institutions entrusted to carry out the national drive," Amir said.

If such a case happens again this would ruin the image of the national committee, Amir said.

The next day of this drive's second of three rounds will be held on Oct. 15. The next round is planned for next year.

Meanwhile the Tangerang regent, AR Syaifullah, said the statement Hosen signed "was merely for administrative purposes" and maintained the baby did not die because of the vaccine.

The chairman of the council commission for public welfare, Atje Muljadi, said the Tangerang case should not be repeated. "It should not happen in Jakarta," he said.

The fact that Maryati's grandmother was not given any information regarding the baby's health, except that the vaccine was harmless, "means that the immunization post officials should be more careful", Atje said.

However the chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association, Azrul Azwar, said expectations that officials be equipped beyond vaccine administration skills are not realistic for the mass anti-polio drive.

The post where Maryati was taken to could not be blamed, he added.

"Training on other things apart from administering the vaccine would risk the success of the national drive," Azrul said. Indonesia aims to eradicate polio by the year 2000.

What was regrettable, he said, was the statement from officials that Maryati's father signed.

"There was no need to forward a statement which cannot serve as a legal document," Azrul said.

The right of the family should be respected, whether they want to sue or not, he said.

"But the officials could have just explained that the vaccine could not be the cause of death," he said. (28/anr)