Victims neglected, diarrhea hits 18,000

Victims neglected, diarrhea hits 18,000

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Without even the most basic assistance from the government,
people here have been left completely on their own in the
aftermath of floods which have paralyzed the city, and ravaged
their belongings since last Monday.

Most of floodwaters that surged across the city had receded by
Tuesday. As many the evacuees returned to their homes, however,
they realized that their problems were far from over: along with
the damaged possessions inside their flooded houses lurked the
potential for serious diseases.

Days after the floods hit the city, many people in affected
areas fell ill with a variety of sicknesses. But unfortunately,
not all of them were lucky enough to get the free medical
treatment the city administration had announced earlier.

Jakarta Health Agency Chief A. Challik Masulili estimated that
some 18,000 people were suffering from diarrhea and that, as of
Monday, two children had died of the disease in North Jakarta.

Last week, the administration announced that all flood victims
would be eligible to receive medical treatment for free in any
hospital here.

The condition for this care? A reference letter from each
patient signed by a doctor on duty at a health post in their
area.

However, the administration had staffed only 70 official
health posts in the 263 shelters accommodating displaced people.
Only 265 doctors, therefore, have been available to serve them.

Most evacuees in Cipinang Besar area, East Jakarta, chose to
go to a hospital at their own expense, even though a health post
was available there.

"My son needs medical treatment soon, but we haven't met with
the doctor at the post -- while I went there, there were only a
few nurses and officers from the city health agency," said
Sitorus.

His son was swept away by the flooding on Friday night, but
was eventually rescued, despite suffering a broken leg. Sitorus
said that he had to pay over Rp 1 million for the medical
treatment.

"An officer at the post told me that I couldn't get
reimbursement for the money I've spent for my son's medical
treatment. He said that they were only authorized to issue a
reference letter -- which is not easy to get," he said
despairingly.

A group of evacuees among the hundreds of people at a shelter
in Halim, East Jakarta, admitted that they had to go to a nearby
private clinic to get treatment; the medical assistance at the
shelter, they said, was just not adequate to help everyone there.

A non-governmental organization and the Red Cross provided the
medicine, most of which was meant for general diseases, such as
antibiotics.

"I went to a clinic yesterday to treat my five-year-old
daughter. I don't have a penny, but a volunteer gave us some
money," said Rojikin, adding that his daughter suffered from
asthma.

Ibu Kasmawati, a flood victim from Bukit Duri subdistrict,
South Jakarta, complained about the absence of professional
doctors; the camp for evacuees where she was staying was only
equipped with a limited supply medicine and was staffed by
volunteered medical students with varying degrees of experience.

"My one-year-old daughter has been suffering with a fever for
three days now -- I've brought her to the medical post at the
camp, but until now, I see no sign of her getting better.

"I need a real doctor -- not just a medical student doing a
residency," she said, worriedly.

Kasmawati had taken shelter at the Attahiriyah Muslim
University evacuee camp in South Jakarta.

The camp, accommodating about 6,000 people, was extremely
squalid, with a mountainous heap of garbage out front,
threatening the health of its residents.

According to Safta, the field coordinator of student
volunteers for the Association of Muslim Students (HMI), since
the opening of the camp on Jan. 28, not a single doctor has come
to inspect the evacuees.

"We cannot rely on professional doctors, as none of the ones
we've asked for have come here," he said.

The field coordinator of medical team for flood victims, Dr.
Aryono Juned Pusponegoro, said that medical teams could not cover
all the flood victims.

"We are having difficulties covering all of the areas that
have been hit by the floods because we only have so many
ambulances," he said.

"We used to have 15," he continued, "but now we are down to 14
-- one of them was trapped by floodwaters in West Jakarta."