Bapaks in white coats continue to put the fear of God to expatriates of Indonesia.
"Doctor, Doctor, I am at the door of death!"
"Do not worry, we'll get by."
This is not an exchange I heard in a waiting room Jakarta, although doctors from Indonesia, fine specimen of men and women that they are certainly, certainly come to a fair amount of flak from the expatriate community. The general perception of bone professional sawyers of the country held by those from rich countries seems to bounce like a heart monitor display rate between the ridiculous and condescending sheer terror at the idea of ever falling into their clutches.
If they ply their trade in a lower hospital market or a medical center, while local doctors are generally regarded as buffoons that offer diagnoses along the lines of "doctor" punchlines joke before pump you full of bad drugs and amputating the wrong leg for good measure. However, if they work in a safe house in medicine, then they will obviously try to connect to as many expensive machines that go "ping" as possible, as the dollar signs look in their eyes as gunmen (although American expatriates can be used for this type of treatment because of the general disregard of their noble nation for socialized medicine).
can be directed to official statistics in search of a more sober analysis of the medical system of the country, but this can not help dispel the negative aura that hangs on Indonesian hospitals as the smell of a full jar.
1,800 hospitals in Indonesia, apparently only five are accredited internationally, and all of these are privately owned, although supposedly the Ministry of Health is preparing seven State-owned hospitals to qualify for international accreditation.
Ultimately, this may not make much dent, however, of some 100,000 people who run abroad each year (mainly in Singapore, Malaysia and China) in search of decent medical treatment. And they are the lucky ones, of course. The vast majority of Indonesians, not in possession of much more, very good, a bedpan can either incur crippling debts when they need medical care or instead opt for a judicious application of Tiger Balm while offering some prayers to Him upstairs.
There are, however, more recent signs of change. Both President Jokowi and his comrade, Jakarta Governor Ahok, breaking five decades of political elite, seem actually to recognize that all Indonesians in BMW car and drove through the health insurance schemes amid much breath of the trustees of the best equipped hospitals.
It is clear, however, could well be like trying to repair a fractured skull with a Handiplast. Doctors here often work in a number of hospitals or health centers, and even hospitals that occupy fancy high-rise buildings may not be able to provide adequate consultation or professional enough that their doctors are working long into the night with a large number of patients. It seems that often here, the high-end technology are complemented by a level of professionalism among the nation's 50,000 doctors and 2.5 million nurses even upscale.
The problem, as with so many things, is education, which in this country is about as bad as it gets. This is not a culture of knowledge; it is a very corrupt culture based on consumption. Intellectually speaking, a complete disaster then include the sale of tickets in med school (your notes down, the more you have to pay to enter, up to hundreds of millions of rupees). Plus, of course, more payments will ensure that even the smallest laughing head potential quacks are able to spend their regular exams, while connections and the old boy network also help, which is why medical care may seem if "dynastic" here.
And all this comes on top of the system to political motivation of Indonesia educational indoctrination, which is based on learning by heart, and that seems to actively discourage the kind of critical thinking that is so valuable for decent medical practice. Apparently, even the nurses and midwives often have to buy their way into employment. This can be as much as US $ 5,000 for a job that pays about $ 300 a month. No wonder the nurses and doctors work for the government in the morning and indulge in private practice in the late afternoon and evening.
Having said all that, my own experiences in Indonesian hospitals were not too bad. The worst I rode my bike once in a bajaj was apparently fired by a prototype software at the time. In any case, after being thrown into the air like a rag doll and landing in a big pile of bones on the floor, I found myself transported to the Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta has undergone several fractures.
After various titanium plates and screws inserted in me, I packed the house to recover and was regularly visited by a nurse (alas, one male) for two weeks. Both my hospital and ambulatory care were pretty decent, though all this came at a price which was fortunately covered by my health insurance policy. Coincidentally, the former president Suharto has entered the same hospital about a year later and, unlike me, did not emerge alive. Maybe the former strongman was neglecting his health insurance payments (although I'm still under the impression that the former fascist impenetrable was a collector, as opposed to a premium payer).
There was, alas, a dark cloud that casts a shadow on my other lovely week stay in hospital, and it is nurses - angels of mercy they were - who insisted on waking up at the same time Indonesian 5:00 every morning to nothing more than vitamin pills and small the most appalling breakfasts I had ever since I went camping administer. After four days of this, I must confess that I did discharge a part of the medical jargon in their direction.
"But we will try to help you, sir!"
"Aha, that is very good, now this is what I want you not to do ..."
The great Benjamin Franklin supposedly said that "early to bed, get up earlier, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. "well, he had obviously never sailed around the Dutch East Indies, in my opinion.
Meanwhile, the hospital can now be poor eviction of Indonesia receptions of the length and breadth of the nation shaking Jokowi smart cards, but many are still unable to afford the fancy dished prescriptions by doctors with a tendency to polypharmacy (ie prescribe five or more drugs, many of which are not essential but expensive if you're on two dollars a day).
The rapid solution offered by traditional jamu and over-the-counter pills and energy so drink is likely to remain a medical staple for the proletariat of the republic, who suffer the consequences of the fine line between commercial and medical science being gleefully trampled. A quick fix of caffeine, taurine, sugar and paracetamol, it is then that should temporarily hide the negative effects of poverty, poor diet, lack of sleep, pollution, disease and pests. Soviet Russia, now there was an effective health system. When you were sick, they kill you. No tinkering with remedies out there ...