When Yospina Finally Met a Doctor
Medical doctor Verdyanto Saliama checked on a boy in Batugoyang village, East Aru Selatan district, Aru Islands regency, Maluku, on Saturday (6/5/2017). The medical checkup was conducted in the Mobile Cash Expedition held by the Maluku branch of Bank Indonesia to provide healthcare in remote regions.
While holding Lia Sogalrey, her five-month-old baby, Yospina Waitau, a 37-year old mother, waited in line at a free healthcare service in the Batugoyang village, Aru Islands district, Maluku, in May.
In a village without a doctor, this was a rare opportunity that could not be passed up.
Yospina’s daughter had suffered from coughs and cold for almost two months. When Yospina got her turn, Dr. Verdyanto Saliama checked her baby. The doctor attached a stethoscope to the young Lia’s chest while she was held in her mother’s arms.
Lia was shocked, then cried and coughed. Yospina tried to calm her, but the baby’s crying and cough got even louder.
After examining the baby’s heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature, Verdyanto gave the mother some medicine and wrote down the dosage directions. Yospina\'s face showed her relief.
Yospina immediately exited the queue to give the other villagers their opportunity. While leaving the queue, Yospina kissed the medicine repeatedly. Perhaps she was praying, hoping the medicine would cure her small daughter.
"I\'ve been to the Puskesmas [public health service] before, but there were no doctors and no medicine," Yospina said.
Word of the doctor’s visit to Batugoyang village quickly spread throughout the community of about 700 people. A large number of residents came with a variety of complaints, such as coughs, upper respiratory tract infections, gout, rheumatism and blood sugar problems.
However, due to the limited time, only 70 people could be checked by Verdyanto during the five-hour service. The free health service was held at the branch office of Bank Indonesia in Maluku province.
The condition of health services
At the Puskesmas in Batugoyang all medicine is stacked on the table. There are no cabinets for storage. In the emergency room, the wheel of the bed has been damaged, as are three beds in the two inpatient rooms. Part of the bed frame is rusty. The only valuable item at the Puskesmas is a refrigerator powered by solar electricity to store the vaccines.
Every month, Puskesmas medical personnel deliver vaccines for babies in Batugoyang and two neighboring villages, Beltubur and Meror, on foot or sometimes by a motorized boat. The population of the three villages is about 2,000 people.
The deputy head of the Puskesmas in Batugoyang, Elisa Sogalrey, said there were no doctors or midwives at the public health center. There are only five nurses who are all residents of the village. They are poorly paid. In addition, there are six trained village shamans.
Batugoyang, located on Trangan Island, can be reached in 12 hours by motorized boat from Dobo, the capital of Aru Islands regency, situated on Wamar Island to the north of Trangan.
Batugoyang is one of the outermost villages in Indonesia. In the village, Muslims and Protestant and Catholic Christians live side by side. It is a rare portrait of life in Maluku in the aftermath of social and religious conflicts, which, several years ago, led to the division of people with different faiths into certain areas.
There are two ways for Batugoyang residents to reach Dobo. During the east wind season, which brings high waves from May to August, they sail along the western side of Trangan, while during the west wind season (December-March) they pass along the eastern side. Due to a large number of shallow water locations, at low tide, or “meti” as the locals call it, residents must often spend the night on the journey waiting for the tide to change.
"When carrying a mother who suffered delivery difficulties, we had to inject her with vitamins to stop the bleeding. Our infusion was hung on the mast of the ship," Elisa said. An emergency patient also died on the way to Dobo.
To overcome the shortage of drugs, the Puskesmas has encouraged the residents to cultivate medicinal plants, such as guava for diarrhea and jarak (Ricinus communis) for colds.
Due to their remote location, many patients who are seriously ill often lose their lives before they can receive treatment. In 2015, two doctors, Dionisius Giri Samudra and Afrianda Novan Firsty, also died while on assignment in Aru.
Verdyanto said in order to improve health services in the area, there should be, at least, electricity, clean water, and a speed boat for the sick. "Before handling the patients, a doctor should be healthy. The traveling time with a fishing boat is too long. It exceeds the golden period for handling sick people, which is only eight hours," Veryanto said. The golden period refers to the time limit to save people in critical condition.
Such circumstances are common throughout in Aru, which is home to 547 islands, 117 villages and 10 districts with a population of about 113,000 people. Ironically, the problems continue to occur even under Regent Johan Gonga, who has a background in medicine, although he certainly understands the condition of health services in the Aru Islands.
Aside from Batugoyang with a travel time of 12 hours, in Tungwatu village, which can be reached in less than an hour from Dobo, health services are also poor. In 2014, dozens of children under the age of five died of measles. When Kompas visited the village, there were no medical personnel.
The second assistant of the regional secretary of the Aru archipelago, Marthinus Lengam, said, in 2016, 10 high school graduates from the area had received scholarships to study medicine and would be later be assigned to work in the Aru Islands.
However, educating students to become doctors without building the necessary infrastructure and connectivity may be a fruitless endeavor.
