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."