A premature baby has died in Indonesia after eight different hospitals refused to treat her for a respiratory problem.
Dera Nur Anggraini died on Saturday at the Zahira hospital in Jakarta, where she was born on Feb 10 with her twin sister Dara, according to the Jakarta Globe.
Doctors at the Zahira referred the girl to other hospitals in the city because they did not have the medical equipment required to perform surgery on a deformity in her throat.
Eight different hospitals refused to admit the girl for treatment, claiming they either didn’t have the medical equipment for the surgery or their rooms were fully occupied.
“[Pertamina Central Hospital] initially said they had a room, but after we asked about the costs, they said their rooms were fully occupied and they didn’t have the equipment,” the girl’s grandfather, Herman, told Indonesian news site Merdeka.com.
“I was even yelled at at Harapan Kita [hospital]; they said I wouldn’t find [a room for Dera]. Private hospitals asked for a down payment of 12 million rupiah (37,000 baht) to 15 million rupiah (46,000 baht).”
Dera’s father, Elias Setya Nugroho, a street sandal vendor, said he hoped that her twin sister, who weighed only 1kg when she was born, would survive.
“Dara has been referred now to Tarakan [hospital],” Mr Elias said.
Dera’s parents were in possession of a Jakarta health care card, which supposedly covers the medical costs of the city’s underprivileged residents.
Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that the city has allocated 1.2 trillion rupiah for the health card programme, in partnership with 85 hospitals.
“I’m concerned with this incident. The baby should have been handled well by [one of those hospitals],” Mr Basuki said.
Mr Basuki added that hospitals should provide more Class III rooms for poor patients.
“The law says they can have 25% of their rooms for Class III services, and 75% for other classes. But we want the 75% to be Class III rooms,” he said.