Hospitals refuse to treat poor girl with tumour

JAKARTA - A 10-year-old girl with a tumour was been refused treatment at two hospitals simply because her family is poor.

Yani, daughter of Suhandi and Satria, who lives in Jati Murni subdistrict, Pondok Gede district, Bekasi, West Java, was diagnosed with a tumor seven years ago, said Mustari Soleman, a university student who has taken up the family's cause.

He said in a media statement that two big hospitals in Jakarta had refused to perform surgery on Yani as the family was unable to pay the costs.

Although Yani's parents have a welfare card, they are only entitled to 30 to 50 per cent coverage of the total costs charged by one of the hospitals, Mustari added.

Instead, the hospital told Yani's parents they would have to pay a Rp 20 million (S$2,700) down payment for the surgery.

Mustari and other students are calling on the government to investigate and evaluate hospitals that refuse to treat poor people and cover Yani's surgery costs.